Through An Angel's Eyes
by GoldenLocket14
Summary: Lily and James hate each other to a point where there aren't enough words to explain. What if James saw himself through Lily's eyes? Will dark times bring them closer, or farther apart? R&R!COMPLETE!
1. Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1: Arrogant prats & gossiping girls

It's amazing how interesting your shoelaces can become when one is feigning disinterest. In fact James was so caught up in acting he almost missed what he had been listening for.

Lily was raging at him for…something. Not that this was anything new, it happened so often that he really didn't know what she was yelling about. This was not what he was listening to however.

He was trying to find out if Clover Lalonde was free. Turned out she was. James turned his back on Lily completely (who now looked quite offended, no wait, highly insulted) and went over to Clover and her friends.

All of them giggled with delight as he gave them his trademark lopsided grin, then said "Hey Clover, mind if I talk to ya' for a sec?"

"Of course not!" she practically squealed. They headed over to a secluded but not quite empty corner of the Common Room. "So James, what did you want to talk about?"

"I was wondering you free Saturday night?" He used his most charming voice.

"Yeah I'm free!"

"Great. So meet me in the Astronomy Tower for dinner at say… 7:30?"

"You bet! See ya' there!" She went back over to her friends who pumped her for details. James made a mental note to check Clover off of his list of girls.

"So see you hooked another." Said Sirius, slightly startling James from behind.

"Yup, what about you?"

"Well, you sure you want to know?" At this James just shrugged. "Fine be that way. I got a date with, wait for it, none other than Lily Evans." James gave a short bark of laughter; he didn't believe it for a second.

"You Serious, Sirius?" James grinned, Sirius hated that. He nodded. "How'd you do it?"

"She lost a bet." He said simply.

"What sort of bet?"

"I bet her that I could get a better grade on the Charms essay. She thought otherwise. I won so I get one date with her." Sirius grinned cheekily, with just a hint of smugness. It was too much, James went into hysterics.

At this point Lily was talking to one of her best friends, Hannah, probably about what a jerk Potter was. James nudged Sirius in the side and pointed to Lily, "Watch this"

He flicked his wand at Lily and said, "_Glacius Bucketus_." Suddenly a bucket of icy cold water was dumped over her head. Her scream could be all the way to the fifth floor. In the mean time James and Sirius were laughing so hard that they could scarcely breathe.

"JAMES POTTER! DETENSION!" Lily's green eyes were blazing like newly polished emeralds. She glared at him with a burning hate like no other. James sobered instantly.

"Why do you _always_ have to take the fun out of things Evans?"

"Why? Because, you're always walking around screwing with people's lives. Because you're the most pompous, overbearing, pigheaded jackass ever to walk the planet! That's why Potter! Or are you to dense to understand that?" Lily was shrill and on the verge of screaming, "Oh by the way Sirius, the date is off. I don't care if I lost the bet; you're nearly as bad as him. So bugger off!"

"Come on Lils, we don't need to stay in _their_ presence any longer." Said Hannah with a slight smirk, "Oh James, Sirius look down. You might not be going anywhere for awhile."

She had transfigured their legs into mermaids' tails. The Common Room erupted in laughter as Lily and Hannah left.

"That was great!" Lily exclaimed about five minutes after she and Hannah had left the Common Room.

"Thanks. I got the idea from that book about magical sea creatures that Andromeda was reading" Hannah replied.

"Anyway those two are hardly better than that poor excuse for a human being, Malfoy!" Just as Lily and Hannah had rounded the corner into the corridor that led to the Library, Lucious Malfoy nearly ran into them.

"Speak of the Devil." Lily said in a disgusted tone.

"Watch it Malfoy! Do the world a favor and go drown yourself in the lake!" Hannah said none to kindly.

"I'd watch what I said if I were you Lerona. You're acting more and more like a Slytherin everyday. Move over Mud-Blood." He added to Lily. Lily had just pulled out her wand and was pointing it at Lucious threateningly.

"You must be sniffing the bleach you use on your head; because if I were you I'd be scared witless of Lily Evans when she has a wand in her hand."

Lily meanwhile was pulsing with anger and in a sudden burst of rage screamed, "_Impedimentia!_" Malfoy was thrown back ten feet through the air and into a wall. Incidentally he was knocked unconscious.

"These are the times that you have to remember when the sky is falling and the worst thing you can do is look up." Said Hannah with relish.

They heard a low whistle from behind, then, "You really did a number on him Lily, and I totally approve!" Their friend Jen had just walked over to them. She and Hannah were cousins and only a day apart.

"Where have you been? You missed Potter and Black lose their legs!" Lily exclaimed. Jen chuckled evilly.

"I was in the Library. I managed to finish our homework for the week, did extra Charms, and still had time to finish 1000 Remedies for Petty Pranks, and by the sounds of the gossip more than a few people could do with reading it." Jen then gave small cough that sounded suspiciously like 'Lily'.

"You know you read to much, right? All of you do." Andromeda (also a friend) had just turned up, "I put a limit on the amount I read outside of homework."

"Not that it matters, half of what you actually do read is strange or perverted!" Hannah said. In first year, Jen had called Andromeda a 'crazy pervert' in her sleep. It had been a long-standing joke ever since.

"Hahaha, I'm laughing my arse off." Andromeda said sarcastically.

"Reading isn't a bad thing," Lily said, "You just happen to prefer being lazy. So were you off snogging that prat Sirius again?"

"For your information he's still in the hospital wing. It took him and James a while to get there. Apparently they tried levitating each other, and ended upturning their arms into wings. Remus took pity on them and cast a successful levitation spell."

"Remus, really? He always was the most practical and mature of the Marauders." At the mention of Remus' name Jen had become slightly more interested.

"You seem more obsessed with Remus, than Andromeda is with Sirius." Lily said. Jen and Hannah both snorted.

"But Lily we forgot! Jen only "_admires_" him." Andromeda laughed.

"In my opinion, all the Marauders are the same. Arrogant, immature jerks who don't know what's what." Hannah said positively. "Snape is cuter than those four."

"You're smoking something, aren't you?" Lily said. "As much as I think it's wrong for the Marauders to pick on him, he is soooo not cute."

"I second Lily's opinion, I don't think he showers!" Andromeda said.

"Maybe cute, but not cuter. You have to admit that when their hair is all windswept they look really hot!" Jen said.

"Whatever. But I stand by what I said." Hannah stated with as much indifference as she could muster.

This conversation/debate/one person on three argument continued right into dinner. Jen was restating what she had said about the Marauders hair, with Andromeda nodding her head, when they showed up.

"Do mine ears deceive me or did _Angelic Jenny_ just say we looked sexy when our hair was windswept?" Remus said taking the vacant seat next to Jen.

"I think she did." Sirius taunted from across the table.

"One, Lupin, don't call me that! Two, I said you tried to hard to make your hair look like that."

"But, Jen, you know you're perfect; and," James said in a sly tone, "I do believe you're lying." Of course right then Andromeda slapped James (with a pointed "hmmf" as she did so) and Hannah kicked Remus under the table.

Lily watched this whole ordeal with an amused expression and thought 'It's only what they deserve.'

A/N this is my first fic so please be kind. If you would like a character profile do ask. Advice is greatly appreciated! The next chapters will be partially written by my cuz Hannah. Yes Jen and Hannah are based o her and I. Plz review! It will make me very happy if you do


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Sorry for the delay! I find it easier to write at 11 at night, so I haven't been writing much. So it snowed today! 6" of the white fluffy stuff! I love the snow! Anywho I would like to thank Emrisah. I totally agree, Sirius mmm, mmm. I need to know if any of my characters need tweaking. You were my first official reviewer so this chapter is dedicated to you! (Yes that is how excited I am to have a reviewer!) Enjoy! **

**_Chapter 2:Day dreamers and compulsive liars_ **

"Wow James! This is really great!" Clover was gazing around the Astronomy Tower.

James had put red tinted glass baubles over the torches and set a table for two in the center of the room. He had a cocky grin plastered to his 'make you melt' face; it hadn't been as much trouble as Clover thought.

James walked to the table and pulled her chair out for her. "You're such a gentlemen James! I don't how Lily can hate you, you're so wonderful!"

"Hmmm, yes well, some people are just blind to perfection." If Lily had heard that, he thought, she would probably start throwing darts at me in an attempt to deflate my head.

"You are _sooo_ right James!" Jeez could Clover be anymore of a kiss up (haha pun, bad one but a pun none the less)? And did she _have _to say his name every five seconds?

Clover was telling him something about her sister when he started to drift. A vision of Lily's amazing face and flashing eyes popped into James' head. She looked stunning when she was angry…Wait a second! What the hell did I just think? I may like her, but seriously, what was that?

"James? Are you okay? James?

"What…Oh, oh yeah. What were you saying?"

She started talking again and James decided to drop her fast. Huffelpuffs are more interesting then her.

**In the Common Room earlier that evening.**

James and Clover were leaving the Common Room. Unbeknownst to them, they were being watched by three young ladies. Lily, Jen, and Hannah to be exact.

"Doth mine eyes deceive me, or art thou gazing after sensual Sir Potter?" Hannah asked mischievously.

"Yea-NO! What, NO WAY! Doth mine eyes deceive _me_ or are you saying crazy things?" Lily, apparently, had been caught completely off guard.

"You do realize you can't actually see my words, right?" Hannah said dryly. Before Lily could reply to that particular comment, Jen spoke up.

"I can count my molecules!" She said in an awed voice, completely out of the blue.

"Hannah…Did she escape from Mungos?" Lily said in a scared voice.

"I don't know…" Jen was now humming to herself in an off key tone. "I'm going to the Library. Have delicious dreams of beautiful Mr. Potter!" Hannah screamed as Hogwarts, a History hit her on the back of the head.

As Hannah left, Jen who was quite alone began to waltz around the room.

Over in the corner Sirius snickered to Remus, "I didn't think the potion in her goblet would be that strong!"

"Sirius! You said it wouldn't be that bad! What were you thinking?" Remus said in an exasperated tone.

"Oh, chill out Remus! We all know that you have huge crush on her. You don't need to worry, if things get out of hand, I'll give her the antidote."

"You'd better, both Lily _and_ I are prefects, so if I don't give you detention she will!" While this was going on Jen's situation had gotten worse.

"Lily…" Jen said as if she were drunk. "Lily, I don't feel so well…" With that she promptly fell to the floor with a thud. Remus and Lily raced to her side, with Sirius close at their heels.

"Sirius, I think this is a bit out of hand!" Remus said.

"I think you're right." He then poured a pinkish liquid into Jen's mouth.

"What the HELL did you do to her?" Lily exclaimed.

"Chill, Lils, she'll be fine in the morning."

"Sirius grab me your broomstick." Remus ordered.

"Why?"

"So I can bring her to her room." Remus said as if stating the obvious.

"Wha-Oh…ok." Sirius disappeared up the stairs.

"Is he sure she'll be okay?" Lily asked.

"Yeah… I think so. He may be slightly off his rocker, but Sirius isn't stupid." Lily snorted and Remus laughed.

Sirius came back in a minute and handed the broom to Remus. "I'll just bring her up and come back down." Jen groaned and gave them all a small smile.

Then she closed her eyes again and drifted back to unconsciousness.

Hannah was entering the Library, trying to make sure that her skull wasn't cracked, when she ran into none other than Severus Snape.

With that she immediately fell on her butt and knocked the lanky boy into a table.

The enormous pile of books he'd been carrying scattered across the ground.

"Oh my gosh! I'm so, so, so sorry!" Squeaked a terrified Hannah as she bent over to help him pick up his books. "I was so preoccupied, because Lily threw a book at me and I anted to make sure-Hey, is that the complete works of Scott Cunningham? It's out every time I get here! I've wanted it for so long." Hannah eyed the book hungrily.

Snape raised his eyebrows.

"And…" His voice sounded as if he had swallowed a mixture of honey and oil. Hannah grinned at him and winked.

"Well, y'know. Hint, hint; nudge, nudge; wink, wink. Meaning let me borrow the damn book." She gave him an impish smile and raised her own eyebrows at him.

The corners of his mouth twitched as if he wanted to smile, but he quickly regained his composure of carefully detached interest.

"If I let you borrow the book…what's in it for me?" He looked at her sincerely interested in what he might get. Hannah looked back at him, confused. "I want 20 galleons." He supplied. Hannah looked at him as if he were crazy.

"You'll make me poor!" She said incredulously. "The Lerona riches will be forever lost! Can't I just give you advice on how to be attractive?" Snape looked as though he very much wanted to strangle her. "Well…I mean…can't you…you don't shower!" She had just realized that she had said something incredibly stupid. Snape's scowl deepened.

"I don't like you." He said pointedly. Then (as an afterthought) added, "Not at all. I never have."

Hannah, hot-tempered little fireball that she was, immediately flew into a passionate fury.

"You know, every day I come here at exactly the same time as you, but do you notice? Don't answer! Ya' want to what else? My friends think I'm crazy because I think you're better looking then those arrogant assholes the Marauders. Well you are! I'm obviously interested in y-! Oh crap, not again! Goodbye!" Hannah ran from the Library with Snape looking puzzled in her wake.

"Sirius what happened to Jen?" Andromeda and Sirius were currently occupying an empty classroom. (A/N aren't oxymorons awesome?)

"All I did was slip a potion into her goblet to make her a little…uhhh, drunk like." He said hesitantly.

"Why?"

"Well, hence the name Marauder."

"Well is she all right now?"

"She'll be ready for classes on Monday."

"Oh, all right, then I guess I'm only a little upset."

"Good." Then he leaned down to kiss her.

When James got back to the Common Room he said goodnight to Clover and went upstairs.

Remus was the only other person there. He was sitting on his bed staring off into space, probably deep in thought. "Hey" Said James.

"What…Oh, how did the date with Clover go?"

"Having dinner with a textbook would be more interesting then tonight!"

"You didn't even kiss her?"

"She said she had a cold sore. Can you say gross, I mean she could have lied and said something else."

"Honesty is the key to a good relationship. Well, at least that's what Dr. Good-spouse said" James gave Remus a look that said 'you're a pothead aren't you?'

"You're kidding, right?"

"No, but hey, it was something to fill the hours. I mean the book!" He said when James started smirking.

"What did I miss?"

"Nothing, except Sirius almost killed Jen."

"Poor Remus, did his crush get hurt?" Remus then started pelting James with pillows.

A/N: So what did you guys think? Did I mention this is sixth year? Okay so character profile… 

**James: Prankster extraordinaire. All the girls love him, it's quite scary really. Has a slight infatuation with Lily. He doesn't love her yet actually he still hates her. Sort of… **

**Remus: A voice of reason that sometimes joins in on the fun and doesn't always speak up. He's more mature then the others, but is also a prankster.**

**Sirius: How do I begin to explain Sirius? I think he explains himself.**

**Lily: Can you say genius? She and her friends are pretty popular so that's not really an issue. She and her friends are the main focus of most of the Marauder born pranks. Not that she doesn't get revenge…**

**Peter: I think when I actually bring him into the story he's going to be smart and funny and popular. When he's in the story.**

**Jen: Perfect. Her homework is in on time, not a single detention in her life, clean as Purrel hand sanitizer. Also she can be quite blonde.**

**Hannah: 60 Slytherin 40 Gryffindor. But I guess the Gryffindor in her is stronger. Not exactly polite she is totally headstrong. One of the more interesting characters.**

**Andromeda: She is the flirt. Sirius obsessed but they're not going out. Weird I know, but I try to mix things up a little. Not big on reading but she still gets an E in most of her subjects.**

**Clover: James' flavor of the week and nothing more.**

**Please read and Review! Celina K2**


	3. Chapter 5

**A/N Sorry for the delay! I know the last chapter was a little on the short side, but I wanted to get it up and I couldn't figure out what to add to the end of that. A new character is going to be introduced into the story in this chapter. (It was Hannah's idea!) He will end up playing a huge roll. While we're on the topic of sneak peaks, I will now write some rhetorical questions that will hint at things to come. Ever wonder why Remus and Sirius never got married? (I promise no slash!) What will happen when James says, _"The question isn't if you want to hear the truth, Lily love, the question is can you handle the truth?"_ And last you see is, _"I can never forgive you!" Hannah screamed. _ So now on to the story!  **

"…So then Aden comes in and turns Malfoy into a toad with butterfly wings!" James was deep in the swing of telling his fellow Marauders about a fight with Lucious Malfoy when Jen, Hannah, Andromeda, and Lily happened into the room.

"Oh dear Merlin, is James telling war stories again?" Lily said disgustedly.

Quite oblivious to their entrance, James gaily carried on. "But then Bellatrix decides to be a thorn in our side and throws some weird curse at him. That's what's landed him in the hospital wing for the past week!"

"Potter would you shut up? Everyone has heard the story a million times!" Hannah said irritably.

"Soorry for being concerned about my friends, geez! I am an unfortunate victim of misplaced scorn!" James said dramatically.

"Ahh, the beautiful suffering of overly dramatic gits. Isn't the pain lovely?" Jen sighed, winning herself a disturbed glance from all in the room.

"Ookkaayy…" Andromeda said. "Honestly boys, we already know that you miss Aden. But I implore you, shut your exceedingly large mouths."

Lay off your brother would you?" Sirius shot at her.

"You just want to stay on Aden's good side because you're snogging his twin sister!" Lily said stingingly.

"Want to make something of it?" James said countering Lily.

"No Potter, I don't. I am simply pointing out that Sirius is being a prat."

"Like how? He didn't do anything!"

"Yes, he has!"

"No, he hasn't!"

"Has!"

"Hasn't!"

"Has!"

"Hasn't!"

"HAS!"

"HASN'T!"

"Potter!"

"Evans!"

"Honestly!"

"What?"

"Both of you SHUT UP!" Remus yelled.

"I don't care what you say, Evans, he didn't do anything." James said ignoring Remus.

"You're either dumber then I originally thought, or you're completely deaf, not to know what he did!"

"If I admit I'm wrong, then you have to go on a date with me!" James smiled triumphantly.

"NEVER! I'll have to live with the fact that I'll never hear you admit to being wrong about anything." Lily stormed away, pulling an old looking purple leather notebook from her bag as she did.

Lily closed the door behind her and locked it. She opened the book in her hand and was engulfed in light. Then quite suddenly the book fell to the ground and Lily was gone.

(Maybe I should leave you guys with a cliffie, nah!)

She found herself in a room filled with ethereal clouds, waiting to be made into memories.

"Dear Diary," Lily said and began to describe the events since her last entry, while the scenes took place in front of her. When she was satisfied every thought, feeling, and event was recorded, she was back in her room.

"Before we start, Professor Dumbledor has asked that all students be a short one question examination. This is a self evaluation, so it will be private and won't be graded." McGonagall smiled slightly and gave Sirius a pointed look.

honesty."

(The following is the gang's answers)

James: I try enough. I mean I do have a reputation to

uphold. But mostly I like when my parents are proud of me.

Lily: I want to be prepared for life. I get good grades because I give it my all.

Sirius: I _could_ do better, but I'm just lazy. I'm not as much of a moron as my friends thinks.

Jen: My mother was the top of her class, the least I can do for her is follow in her footsteps. Exellency is in my blood.

Remus: If I'm to make something of myself I need to be

one of the best. How else will I with my condition?

Andromeda: Some of the work confuses me, I'm not as smart as Lily and Jen. But I don't really think that I need to improve.

Hannah: I get my grades yo prove my family wrong. They

love me, but don't think I'm very bright. Jen is their favorite. (Notice the slight animosity in the group?)

Later that day

"Charms, our last class of the day!" Sirius exclaimed.

"Yeah, we're doing that 'partner project' thig today, aren't we?" Lily asked.

"I think so. But don't worry, Flitwick is more empathetic then Kettleburn." Hannah replied.

"But not so nice that he doesn't enjoy at least a little sufferance." Remus said bleakly.

"Don't be such a mood killer Remy!" Jen said in an exagerated impression of one of the Marauder Fangirls. Hannah laughed.

"Ohmygod! Girls! Look, here comes James Potter! EEEEE!" Hannah squealed in mock delight as James walked up to the group.

"Alright enough! We get the point!" James growled.

"Ah, but you see Potter, there was no point. They were merely trying to annoy the –"

"Perfectly sexy!" Andromeda said teasingly.

"Perfectly wonderful!" Jen put in.

"Perfectly perfect!" Hannah added.

" -Perfectly detestable in every way Marauders." Lily finished glaring at her friends, refusing to smile.

Just then a handsome young man with messy dirty blonde hair and golden eyes with a feint violet ring around the pupils, ran up behind the group.

"Hey! I'm back!"

A/N woooh, welcome to the world of hot boys and cliffhangers! Hoped you liked the chapter, I'll have you Know I'm writing this with what might be a broken foot, so feel loved! Haha, lol. I'm serious about the foot. Any questions, opinions, does anything need tweaking?

**Please Review!**

**Celina K2**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: No way a new reviewer! '_do a little dance, get down tonight!'_ Sorry about that, but I am totally happy! Thank you Emrisah for being a faithful reviewer, you get a James plushie doll! Sorry for the delay, I had an evil amount of homework! (1000 word report on the tsunamis, S.S./E.L.A. project worth 25 percent of this terms grade, a tsunami _project, _and a totally worthless life skills project that I'll never use in real life!)**

Chapter four: What if Hell Froze Over 

After the boys explained the whole episode at the pitch, it seemed there were mixed emotions. (To put it lightly.)

"Sirius, why did you have to provoke her?" Andromeda said anxiously. "She may not show her temper like Lily, (Lily through a scathing look at Andromeda.) But, well, Jen has some anger issues."

"I think it's because…I think she tries to…I think maybe she isn't exactly who we think she is." Lily said haltingly, like someone trying to explain to James why Lily thinks he's a conceited prat.

"Remus, did you say anything to upset her previously?" Andromeda asked.

"No, or at least I don't think so." He said rather distantly.

"James you seem to have made the whole thing worse! She hates people intervening!" Lily accused.

"Once again it's _my_ fault! How is it that you always manage to place the blame on _me_?" He returned heatedly.

"Well, probably because it practically always _is_ your fault!" The argument was getting ugly and both were reaching for their wands. Immediately Remus and Andromeda stunned their friends.

Surprisingly enough, Hannah stayed quiet through the whole ordeal. She knew something they didn't, she knew why Jen felt the way she did. But Hannah had been sworn to secrecy. If only they knew.

Just then Jen burst through the portrait. Her cheeks were red and her hair was wildly windswept, they could tell she'd been on her broom.

"I fancied a ride since I missed practice." She said as though she hadn't been missing for the past four hours.

"Are you okay?" Sirius asked timidly.

"Oh, yeah. I don't what came over me." Jen replied vaguely, waving her hand slightly. "What happened to Lily and James?"

"Forceful restraint for their own good." Remus said, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

"Is that the time?" Hannah exclaimed looking at the wall clock. "I have to get to the Library!" Then she was suddenly gone.

"Here's 5 galleons, now give me the damn book!" Hannah said.

"Very well, I suppose it's yours now." Snape said disdainfully. Hannah grabbed the book and sat down across from him. "What are you doing Lerona?" He asked coldly.

"Reading. What else have I to do? Lily and James are sure to be at it again; Jen's sulking, and Andromeda and Sirius are most likely off in a broom closet. After this you'll never have to deal with me again. It's only fair that we both hold up our ends of the bargain."

"Never again?" Did she detect a hint of regret in his voice?

"Never. That is unless you don't want that…"

"Lerona, why in the name of Salazar Slytherin would you say that?"

"I don't know…maybe it was because I heard **_regret_** in your voice! But, you know, I could be wrong." She said giving him a mysterious glance.

Snape pretended to read a message. "Really…oh…okay. Nope, sorry. Hell didn't freeze over." He said curtly.

"Now that's not very nice, Snape. How can you say you don't like me, when you hardly even know me?"

"So what? Are you saying I should get to know you?" His honey and oil voice was back.

"Maybe I am." Hannah replied smoothly.

"Fine. This table, Tuesday, after dinner." Snape said hurriedly.

"Good. See you then." She closed the book, got up, threw a wink in his direction, and walked away.

He didn't even realize that he had gotten nothing out of this recent deal, until he was back to the Slytherin common room.

"I **hate** Gryffindors." Then with a small smirk, "But after all, she is mostly Slytherin."

**A/N Emrisah, you're right about Andro_meada_ but the actual character is Andro_meda_ thankyou though. Tasadidi (is that right?) I'll try my best to update more quickly. Please review, tell your friends about the story… **

**Celina K2**


	5. Chapter 6

**A/N Sooss, I HAVE NEW REVIEWS! Thank you Tamsididi (what about me?) and PsychoBunny, I'm glad you like the story! Thank you to my number 1 reviewer Emrisah, who has kept my initiative to write going! Now to put you out of your misery (and since no one actually reads authors notes) on to chapter six! **

**Chapter six: A Disastrous Charms Lesson**

"Aden! I see that Poppy fixed you up nice. Glad to have you back!" James said slapping Aden on the back.

"Welcome back to the world of mortals." Hannah said smirking. "I say this because your stupid friends have forever immortalized you by telling your tale over and over again until we want them to die horrible, painful deaths."

"It's good to be back." Aden replied smiling warmly at Hannah. "So have I missed much while I've been in the unforgivable whiteness that is the infirmary?"

Everyone exchanged glances. "No, not much." Remus and Sirius said in unison.

"If you don't want to tell me, fine. But may I say that if I fall horribly behind on things, I shall blame you all."

"Well, I guess we'll just have to live with that." Andromeda said. "Just trust me on this, be glad you didn't have to deal with _those_ two all week." She pointed at Lily and James.

"Just the usual…stuff, that goes on around here." Jen chose her words carefully.

"Excuse me, you all can talk all day if you like, but I am not going to be late for charms." Lily said in a way that befits her beautiful record perfectly.

As they entered the Charms classroom many girls waved to Aden as he passed, Gryffindor and Ravenclaw alike. He smiled slightly and nodded his head to a few of them, and then went to the back of the classroom with James, Sirius, and Remus.

(A/N I hate Peter so for all intents and purposes his family moved and he transferred to Durmstrang)

The girls moved to the middle seats, three tables ahead of the Marauders.

That day in charms they were working on Truth Charms. Truth Charms aren't as good as Veritaserum, but do encourage honesty.

"Lily can I try the charm on you, to make sure I got it right?" Jen asked.

"Only if you don't ask anything embarrassing, and promise to let me test it on you." Lily said warily.

"I promise. _Veritasim Tellithia._" Jen pointed her wand at Lily, a silver haze came over her eyes and she wore a blank expression. "Let's see here…Lily Evans, who do you hate most in the world?"

"Luscious Malfoy." Lily said flatly.

"Not James?" Jen said to herself. "Do you think that James Potter is the hottest boy in Gryffindor?"

"No."

"Then who?"

"Sirius Black."

"What? Sirius is_ my_ man!" Andromeda exclaimed.

"Oh, just wait till Sirius hears about this! He'll have a field day!" Hannah said incredulously.

The spell was wearing off, Lily suddenly covered her mouth and gasped.

"JEN! I told you nothing embarrassing!"

"It wasn't, and anyway I wanted to know. How else would I have found out?" She said innocently. Meanwhile, the boys had been having some difficulties of their own.

"Okay, Aden does the spell on me, Remus does the spell on James and then visa-versa." Sirius said. Remus and Aden exchanged nervous glances.

"Remus, do you think it wise to let them try a _new_ spell on us? I mean Sirius is accident prone, and James sucks at Charms." Aden said voicing both his and Remus' concerns.

"Well if they do it to each other we may have more problems then we'll want to deal with. Also, we wouldn't want to hurt their pride by showing them up royally." He said with a twinkle in his eyes.

"Hurt _our_ pride? How could you? Sirius and me could do it, no sweat. I think it's _your_ pride that'll be mortally wounded." James challenged.

"I think that James just challenged us to a competition." Aden said to Remus.

"Yes, I do believe he did." Remus replied.

"How about we make this interesting." Sirius said mischievously. "If James and I cast a better charm on each other then you, both of you have to cough up 7 galleons."

"Are you a lunatic? Four or nothing!" Remus exclaimed.

"What? Oh come on! Fine, six." James countered.

"Hey we're not worried or anything, but I'm not made of money. Five galleons and that is final." Aden said trying to seal the deal.

"Five galleons it is. Prepare to lose boys" Sirius crowed.

(Do you really want the nitty, gritty details?)

"I think we need some judges, y'know, to make things fair." Remus said.

"Alright. Hey, Hannah! Bring your friends over here." James said a few decibels louder then moments before.

"What do you want?" Lily said flatly when the girls got over to the boys.

"No need to be rude Lily Flower. We simply want you judge who can cast a better Truth Charm." James said smoothly.

"I guess we have a few minutes, we had some fun trying it for ourselves." Jen said smiling at Lily who was giving her a death glare. The boys glanced at each other and wondered what ugly truths had been revealed.

"O-kay, I guess I'll cast the spell on Jamsie here, and then Remus will do it to Aden." Sirius said.

"Sounds good. Fire away when ready." Andromeda said.

"_Veritasimae Tellithy_." Sirius pointed his wand at James, and that's when things went down the septic pipes.

James' pupils expanded so much that the iris wasn't visible. His cheeks lost all color and then he fell to the ground.

"Oh, no. Professor Flitwick! We have to get Potter to the Hospital Wing!" Lily said to the tiny professor. He conjured up a stretcher and brought James to the infirmary.

"I think, that Aden and Remus won." Hannah remarked.

"One after another! Honestly can't those four stay out of trouble for one day?" Madame Pomphrey said clicking her tongue. "What hit him?"

"A truth Charm gone horribly wrong." Sirius said shamefully.

"That's the understatement of the century! You didn't get the incantation even close to what it should have been!" Lily was pacing back and forth through the hospital wing.

"Alright all of you OUT!" Madame Pomphrey commanded.

Lily, Sirius, Andromeda, and Remus stalked out of the room. They could hear Poppy fussing over James as they left.

"That woman never lets _anyone_ stay longer then a few minutes!" Sirius complained.

"Oh, shut up. You're the one who put him there in the first place." Andromeda said.

"Are you trying to become Lily?" Remus said. "Usually she's the one who lands him with Poppy." Sirius glared at his friend, then brightened.

"Do you remember the time she cast a freezing charm on his, uh, most sensitive spot? That was an awesome prank!"

"Classic!" Remus agreed.

"And do you remember when I turned all of the Marauders' hair and faces pink?" Lily asked Andromeda.

"Now that was good."

"But then James turned_ Lily's_ hair green!" Said Remus. They had reached the Fat Lady's portrait.

"Password?" She asked.

"Slinky." Lily said smirking.

"I never did find out what a slinky was…" Sirius commented.

When they stepped into the Common Room they found Hannah curled up in a chair reading, and Aden playing chess with Nearly Headless Nick. Jen was doing homework.

"Check Mate!" Nick said his head tilting dangerously.

"What? But, how?" Aden spluttered, peering closely at the board.

"I see I've still got it!" Nick said smugly. A Seventh year yelped as he walked through Nick, who didn't seem to notice.

"What's the diagnosis?" Hannah inquired glancing up at Aden and raising an eyebrow.

"We don't know. Poppy kicked us out." Andromeda shrugged.

"Sirius sure did a number on him, it's a good thing we switched partners, huh Aden?" Remus said.

"Amen to that." Aden nodded.

"He'll be back to terrorizing the Slytherins by tomorrow. I think he's gonna live." Lily said sarcastically.

"Did anyone notice we didn't do the partner project in charms?" Jen asked.

"Not till you mentioned it." Hannah said.

"Must have slipped Flitwicks mind." Sirius said.

"Oh well. Tomorrow's Friday!" Aden exclaimed.

"And we all know what that means…it's almost the weekend!" Remus added.

"I have some stuff I need to do." Hannah said gathering her things and swiftly left the common room.

"Where does she keep getting off to?" Andromeda asked.

"Who knows?" Jen replied.

**A/N So what did you guys think? It wasn't my best chapter, but I think it could have been worse. I have question for all of my wonderful reviewers. Who is your favorite character? In the last chapter McGonagall gave them Veritaserum coated quills, sorry about that typo.**

**Please Review! Y'all know where that little button is…**

**Celina K2**


	6. Chapter 7

A/N Hey! All my wonderful, to good for words, faithful reviewers…I, uh, am updating…(Looks uneasy) Finally. Sorry for the prolonged wait. But I have a good excuse, I promise! I had severe writers block and I was wicked busy! What with family, Hannah breathing down my neck, and scaring away my science teacher; I hardly had any time to breathe! The first part of this chapter is from Severus' point of view. It was so hard to write for him! Okay, onto the story!

**Chapter 7: The Bloody Blade of Truth**

"You're late Severus." Hannah pointed out. Uhg, how did I get stuck with a crush—no an interest, in a Gryffindor?

"More to the point I was deliberately late." I replied smoothly. "So as not to raise any suspicions"

"I'm sure. After all, we wouldn't want to cause a scene. A Gryffindor and a Slytherin, _going out_. It's simply scandalous!" She spoke sarcastically.

"I hope you realize that, if say, Lucious Malfoy, were to find out, I wouldn't survive till the Halloween Feast!" It was true Malfoy hated Hannah. And he would hate me even more if he found out I was dating her.

"My friends also would probably be angry." Hannah's grandparents were pure-blood fanatics and so were her parents. That is, before they became blood traitors eight years ago when Voldemort made his first devastating move. That was why Hannah was the first Gryffindor in a family of Slytherins. In Malfoy's mind that was the worst kind.

"Your friends wouldn't try to kill you, they'd come after me! No doubt Potter and Black would place the blame at my feet." I sneered.

"Not without reason…" Hannah mumbled.

Seething I replied. "Well at least I don't associate with mudbloods and bloodtraitors!"

"Oh, so _now_ your true colors come out!" Hannah shouted at me, growing gradually louder as she went. "And are you not aware that _my_ parents are bloodtraitors? Or did you forget?"

"I didn't forget! But I all I did was point out that you are better than that TRASH you hang around with!"

"TRASH? Do you know what they have suffered at the hands of the SLIME you call human beings?"

"SO WHAT IF I DO? Are you gonna sick Potter on me? Or wait, do they just not care enough that they don't even ask where you are all the time!"

"HOW WOULD YOU KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE TO HAVE SOMEONE CARE ABOUT YOU? No one would every care about a scum bag like you!" She spat the last word as if it tasted like slugs.

"What! YOU"—I was at a loss for words.

"Then I guess we're finished here!" And she fled from the room.

"Go on then! Go play with your Gryffindor pals!" _Great_ comeback.

'_What a gorgeous day. It's so nice to be able to walk around the lake again'_ Aden sat beneath the oak and watched the giant squid float languidly through the still waters. '_That girl is so busy. I never get a chance to talk to her. She really is a mystery.'_ Aden thought with a sigh.

He laid his head back and began to drift off. It was unusually warm for October, but no one minded the sunshine.

Before he could fall asleep fully, he heard footsteps. No running footsteps, headed right for him. But Aden didn't move, he lay there with his eyes closed not making sound. _'Maybe whoever it is won't notice me. I just don't feel like leaving.'_

The unknown intruder was crying, and sitting on the other side of the tree.

"S-s-st-stupid S-s-snape! (sniff-sob) I c-c-can't believe h-h-him! (sob-sniff)" The voice although distorted by tears was undeniably Hannah's_. ' And she was crying about Snape…Crying? Hannah never cried. I mean we all hate Snape, but what did he do to shake the unshakable Hannah?'_ She seemed to be calming down somewhat.

"Who does he think he is, saying that I'm better then my friends. That they're trash! I never should have gone out with him, next chance I get I'm going to break it off."

"Hannah?" Aden asked getting up. Boy was he surprised to hear Hannah was dating Snape. In fact he was downright furious, why would she date something as abhorrent and disgusting as Snape?

"Huh? (Gasp) Aden! Oh, no I didn't know anyone was there! You were bei" Aden cut Hannah off.

"Dating _Snape_? Is that where you keep getting off to? I don't believe it!"

"Look I know I shouldn't have! I should've known I would get hurt, so back off because it isn't any of your business anyway! What do you care, the Marauders are to cool to care about anything!"

"No, I shouldn't have yelled. Hannah what did he do, we'll get him back." Aden tried to comfort Hannah.

"Just leave him alone! This is why I didn't tell you guys about Severus, I knew that you would hurt him! Just don't! I can fight my own battles thank you very much, so don't interfere!" She yelled and went into the castle. (Doing a lot of that lately isn't she?)

"Damn that girl! Can't she stay in one spot for more than a minute?" Aden said to himself.

**Later that day in the boy's dorm.**

"Do we all know the plan for tonight?" James asked his fellow Marauders.

"Can we go over it one more time, I was in the bathroom." Sirius said abashedly.

"Very well. We meet down in the Common Room at Midnight. I'll bring the cloak and Padfoot," James looked pointedly at Sirius. "Will bring the map. Then we'll sneak down to the witch with the hump in her back and into Hogsmeade. We'll get our supplies from Zonko's, John is doing the night shift he won't bother us, and back to the Room of Requirement. Understand?"

"Understood, Sir!" Remus and Aden saluted James when Sirius said that.

"About face! Go down the stairs and report back to the Dorm by 2100 hours sharp!" James commanded teasingly. The four boys walked downstairs and were met by a glistening knife!

Jen came into view holding the knife and looking at it with a sort of rapt fascination. Andromeda and Lily were standing a few feet behind her looking on uneasily. There was something strange about this particular knife… It didn't have an edge. It was about seven inches long and shone as bright as a mirror. But the edge looked as if it couldn't penetrate butter.

The boys stood on the third stair and watched as Jen started to work on the blade. She took her wand and placed it at the tip of the knife. She started whispering and moved her wand along the edge. A faint red glow followed her wand, where the glow went the knife changed. It narrowed to a point and sharpened as she went. After going over the length of the knife Jen inspected the blade and nodded.

Before anyone could stop her she placed the point on her palm and pressed. The knife went in about a half inch before Jen pulled it out. Blood poured from her hand onto the floor, but she didn't flinch and cry out nor did she pay any attention to the small red puddle forming at her feet.

"Jen what the bloody hell are you doing?" Remus yelled. He tried to get closer but Lily waved him off.

"Have you all lost your minds? Jen has a fountain in her hand!" James said.

Jen lifted the knife to her face and watched as a drop of blood fell from the knife and disappeared.

"Yes! It worked!" Jen exclaimed and replaced the knife on her wound. The second it came in contact with the wound the skin closed up and the blood disappeared. She pointed at the red sea around her feet and said "_Vaporade!"_ The blood was sucked right into the knife and everything looked normal again.

"Now will you explain what in Godric Gryffindor's name we just saw?" Sirius looked expectant and slightly terrified.

"Yes. What you just witnessed was an advanced vaporization spell. I transfigured a knife, sharpened it, and cast a basic retrieval and reversal spell. The two spells were based around anything the knife damaged. As you can see it repaired the cut and got rid of the blood. It was a complete success." Jen smiled triumphantly.

"That's great and all, but why did you do that? I don't remember covering cutting ourselves open and getting rid of the evidence in any of our classes. Didn't that hurt?" Aden asked still getting over the shock of it all.

"For your information, my dear brother, it is exactly as you say. Getting rid of evidence. Jen found a book in the library called Muggle Articles Made With Magic." Andromeda said sounding as if that was obvious.

"Actually it didn't hurt because I had Lily cast a numbing charm on my hand." Jen said thoughtfully.

"That still doesn't explain _why_ you did it. So you found a book, I wouldn't try a spell that included self mutilation!" Remus said darkly.

"Well Lupin, in Muggle Studies we're studying crime scene investigation. I wanted to know the effects of magic on a muggle murder weapon. If a wizard could kill someone and destroy all evidence."

"Are you planning to kill someone? Is that why you want to know if you can get rid of the evidence?" Sirius asked.

Jen looked at him coldly. "Yes. I'm planning to kill you. Just in case you'd forgotten." Everyone stared at Jen; and Sirius paled. A lot.

"Psyche! I can't believe you fell for that!" She gave Sirius a hug, wiping tears of mirth from her eyes.

"I think it's that time of the month for Jen." Lily whispered to Andromeda.

"That must be why she's having these weird mood swings." Andromeda said. Hannah walked in and saw Jen holding the knife.

"Is she going to kill Sirius or is it that time of the month?" Hannah asked.

"Told you." Lily said.

"What are you guys talking about?" James looked confused.

"Oh just one of those bloody ridiculous things girls have to deal with." Hannah replied smiling.

"I'll have you know that I just dealt with it last week!" Jen said indignantly. "Besides I don't run at the same times as Lily."

"Thanks a lot!" Lily cried.

"Get over it! I'm scheduled for next week." Andromeda snapped.

"I'm done till November. The _end_ of November." Hannah said smugly.

"Did we miss something?" Aden asked his friends.

"Maybe. I'm lost." Remus said.

"Girls are confusing." Sirius said scratching his head.

"Who wants to play Exploding Snap?" James asked out of the blue.

**Midnight in the Common Room.**

"Are we ready?" Aden looked around the group in the light of the dying fire.

"I've got the cloak." James appeared in front of them holding the cloak in one hand.

"I remembered the map!" Sirius said happily.

"And we're all very proud of you." Remus said sarcastically.

"Alright then, let's move out troops!" James said. As the boys traveled through the corridors beneath the invisibility cloak, they were finding it difficult to be as subtle as usual.

"Ouch! Moony you want to try _not_ stepping on my toes?" Aden said.

"_Sorry_. Prongs I think we're getting a little too tall for this." Remus replied.

"I think you're right. But it doesn't matter because we're here." James said the password and they went into the passageway.

Once inside the village the notorious Marauders headed straight to Zonkos. Hogsmeade at night was not unlike a muggle town, but there was a sense of magic and mystery about it that was uncommon.

James walked in first and looked around. Perfect, absolutely empty. Well, except for John. He waved and James started for the potion prank supply aisle. Sirius signaled to Remus and Aden to follow. The Marauders quickly gathered everything they needed for the prank of the century.

**A/N Sooo…How weird was that chapter on a scale of 1 to 10? Really I want to know. I just got like a bunch of new shirts and I'm so happy! That was kind of a long chapter what did you guys think of the length? Well…Please leave nice long reviews! We all know how much authors _love_ them:)**

**Celina K2**


	7. Chapter 8

A/N Thank you so much for the reviews! Special thanks goes out to Tamsididi and Emrisah for reviewing first! It took a wicked long time to update because I forgot to do it and then my parents went to Maine for a week and took the bloody computer with them! I've been having trouble with the first Marauder spectacle of the story. So if you're wondering when the suspense will end, it will probably be next chapter. Just a heads up, there's a really good story called A Marauder's Girl by Peachy Papayas that's great for all you fans of long chapters and L/J plots. Just some free advertising! Now, on to the story!

Chapter Eight: Romeo Must Die 

At about 3:00 A.M. Andromeda woke up and couldn't fall back asleep. So she got up, pulled her black curls into a ponytail, and headed down to the Common Room. She sat in one of the large squishy armchairs in front of the fire and began to ponder.

She and Sirius had been…attached since the beginning of the school year. But never had either tried to make them an official couple. So what did that make them? Friends with privileges? Snogging partners? _That just sounds sooo wrong!_ _Maybe I should try to make us official…_

Flash Back:

**It was a sultry summer night, only a few days before the start of term. Andromeda and her family were staying with the Potters for a couple days. The boys (Sirius and James) were off somewhere eating, so Andromeda decided to take a walk. She found herself down by the little lake as usual, and sat on the sandy bank. She dug her toes into the warm sand and smiled.**

**Just as she was starting to relax, someone tall, dark, and handsome joined her Well, at least that's how Sirius likes to flatter himself. For a while they just sat in silence, enjoying the dying light. Andromeda wondered why he was here instead of off with James.**

"**So, what have you been up to? You haven't been around all day." Sirius asked.**

"**Not much really. I mean I went into Godric's Hollow and did some shopping, and then I don't know. I hid in my room for a while and finished my homework." Andromeda said uncertainly. "What were you up to?"**

"**Me and James just sat around the house all day. You know, playing Chess, Exploding Snap, making bets…"**

"**Bets? What kind of bets?" **

"**I think there were three. The first was 5 galleons to me if James kisses Lily and she slaps him. The second was 10 galleons to James if Hannah dates a Slytherin. And the last was 15 galleons to me," Sirius lowered his voice to a whispered baritone, "if I could get _you_ to kiss me." **

**Andromeda just looked at him. She had liked Sirius for a long time, but thought that she had hid it well.**

**What else could she do? Nothing! So she did what any girl in her right mind would do. She leaned over and kissed those wonderful lips that she had looked at for some time. **

**It took Sirius a minute to figure out his ploy had worked. But once he did he kissed her back. When they broke apart for need of air, Sirius grinned.**

"**Didn't know I'd win so soon."**

"**Sirius Black, now don't tell me you only kissed me for the money!" Andromeda said teasingly, positively glowing on the inside.**

"**Whose idea do think it was to make that bet?" He said in a way that made her shiver.**

"**I don't know. I thought that it was James' idea." She said batting her eyelashes innocently.**

"**Don't toy with me." **

"**Fine I guess that, since you put it that way, I won't."**

End Flashback.

Andromeda suddenly came out of her reverie when Jen came sleepily down the stairs.

"What are you doing up at this ungodly hour?" She asked groggily.

"I couldn't sleep. I was just thinking." Andromeda replied.

"What about?"

"On whether or not to make Sirius and I official."

"You should. That way if he ever cheated on you, you would have the right to be mad."

"Thanks Jen. _Real_ assuring."

"I'm to tired for this. You should go to bed too. We have a test in Arithmancy and Transfiguration tomorrow."

"Correction, _you_ have a test in Arithmany and Transfiguration. I only have Transfiguration."

"Whatever." Jen said, and the two girls headed up the stairs.

"James, wait up!" Aden shouted, running to catch up with James.

"What?" He said.

"You're not going to believe what I found out yesterday."

"Well? Are you going to tell me or what?" James said impatiently.

"I was outside yesterday when I heard someone crying. I looked who it was and it was Hannah, sobbing her eyes out!"

"Hannah? She never cries. And I mean_ never_. Not since we were like six."

"I know. I asked her why and she told me that she had gotten into a fight with Snape."

"So? That doesn't seem like a reason to cry. What could he possibly have said?"

"Something about mudbloods and bloodtraitors for friends. But that isn't what made her cry. They're _dating_!"

"I'll KILL him!" James said furiously. "What was she _thinking?_ That greasy git is going to get it!"

"I was thinking that he's ten times a better person then _any_ of you Marauders." Hannah said in a deathly cold voice from behind. "I didn't know you were such a gossip Aden, I had thought better of you. If you hadn't told anyone I could have quietly broken up with him without anyone ever knowing anything. And if you so much as point your wand at him I'll, I'll, I'll, I'll kill you and become Death Eater!"

"Hannah I think you should come with me." Jen finally spoke up. She'd been looking for Hannah all day and heard the tail end of the conversation.

"No, I don't think I will." Hannah said nastily. She turned on her heels and stalked off.

"Do you think she's still going to break up with him?"

Aden asked.

"Knowing Hannah, yes. Stubborn fool, she'll do something to make you miserable though. Well, maybe." Jen replied shaking her head.

"I guess that's something." James sighed. "Remus, Lily! Where have you two been?"

"Oh. Umm. Lily and I needed to talk…" Remus trailed off.

"What about?" James asked his voice laced with suspicion and jealousy.

"We're not going to tell you Potter, so don't bother asking." Lily said.

"Lily Flower, why won't you for once just say something without glaring at me?" James said anxiously.

"I can, see?" Lily smiled, but James noticed it didn't reach her eyes.

"No. I don't see it." And he walked out to the grounds. Lily was struck. She couldn't understand what she had said to make him show that much hurt.

Quite to every ones surprise she raced after him. James had asked her to do something, that really wasn't unreasonable, he had let himself be vulnerable for the first time that she had known him, and she couldn't do any better then a Slytherin.

Lily found James standing near the edge of the water, staring off into the depths of the lake.

"James! James, I'm sorry!" –James cut her off.

"Sorry for what Evans? What crime did you seemingly commit? I didn't notice you acting any different then you usually do."

Lily couldn't read his eyes; the sun playing off his glasses hid them perfectly. "That's the point. You didn't do anything. I acted without consideration for your feelings."

"Since when have you cared about _my_ feelings? You hate me remember?" James' tone gave away nothing.

"We're _supposed_ to hate each other. That's how it's always been, that's how it's supposed to stay. I was comfortable with that. It's just been a constant since I met you. Why, what made you change that?"

"Maybe, for once I'm starting to grow up faster then you. As much as you infuriate me and hurt me sometimes, I am capable of having feelings other then hate for you." James grabbed her shoulders and tilted his face away from the sun. He looked sad, but only sort of. There was something else there that Lily just couldn't name, but the way he looked at her scared her.

"What other feelings?" Lily asked timidly, she was good deal shorter than James, and he was rather intimidating close up.

"I don't think this is worth my time. You wouldn't believe me anyway." James let go her and gave her a small smile. "See you round Evans."

He tried to walk away, really he did. But Lily didn't want to leave it that.

"James, tell me the truth! I want to know!"

"The truth isn't whether you want to know the truth Lily Love, the question is can you handle the truth?" Lily glared at him.

"I can handle anything you throw at me James Potter!"

"Oh yeah?" He said skeptically.

"Yeah."

"Well then, I guess I'll just have to figure out what would throw you off, and take you up on that later." He smirked.

"I'll be waiting." Lily's voice was challenge in itself. James would have a hard time with this one that's for sure.

"SNAPE!" Hannah shouted into the Slytherin Common Room knowing he'd be the only one there.

"What _dear_?" He sounded frustrated but calm.

"We need to talk!" Hannah tried at being shrill but his calm voice prevented her from doing so.

"You're breaking it off?" It's amazing how free of emotion his voice was.

"I'm, I'm afraid so…"

"I understand completely. It just wasn't working out for either of us." Hannah didn't know what to say to that. She didn't think that he was going to take it this well. And frankly, it was slightly disturbing.

"I'm glad we agree on that…Look, Severus, I still like you as a person, so could we still be friends?" Hannah gave a timid smile.

"Sure Hannah. But not as close."

"Oh good! I'm sure I'm going to need to talk to a non-Gryffindor friend sometime in the near future."

"Why weren't you a Slytherin?" Snape looked frustrated.

"You would have been so much more successful in this house."

"I'm not sure. I guess I had a few traits that didn't quite fit in at Slytherin." Hannah gave a full smile now. "Goodbye Severus."

"Goodbye…"

After she left Snape got up and went to find Malfoy. He would know what to do with that Gryffindor trash. The whole lot of them.

'_I can't stand this! Hannah is going to drive me over the edge someday. Why is nothing simple with her? As if I'm not troubled enough with everything else that's happened!'_

Jen was sitting by herself in the Astronomy tower. She had come here to think as she often did when she was troubled.

Jen dug in her pockets until she found what she was looking for. _'Someday I should just burn this.'_

Looking at the picture Jen marveled at how happy it was. If only those fools knew what would happen in the next few weeks.

Everyone in the picture smiled and waved and laughed. It was enough to make her _sick._ It was enough to make her want to jump off the tower. It was enough to make her want to shut out the world forever.

But of course, she couldn't. Jen felt that there were certain things that she should be doing. That had to be done to make sure she wasn't a disappointment.

She stuffed the bloody picture back into her pocket and went to go find Lily.

"Sirius? Are you in here?" Andromeda wrinkled her nose when she stepped into the boy's dorm.

"Yeah. What can I do for you my fair lady?" Sirius came out of the Loo with a bathrobe on and wet hair.

"Oh…umm…Well, for starters I came here to talk about the whole 'my fair lady' thing."

"What about it?"

"Well, I mean, what _are_ we?" She said wringing her hands.

"Think of us as Romeo and Juliet! Our families hate each other, but are forced together by us." Sirius said gallantly.

"But they were _engaged_! We're not even an official couple! What is that supposed to mean?"

"Would this make you feel any better?" Sirius got down on one knee and pulled a pink sapphire ring out of his pocket. He cleared his voice. "Andromeda Mellacost will you be my girlfriend?"

"Yes!" She gasped as Sirius slid the ring onto her finger.

"This is such a surprise! How did you know?"

"I had actually been meaning to ask you for some time, but never found the right moment. This seemed perfect" He shrugged and grinned.

"Thank you. It's absolutely gorgeous!" Andromeda admired the ring. She gave him a kiss on the cheek and ran from the room, giggling the whole way.

When Jen and Andromeda entered their dorm a flash of light greeted them. Lily appeared holding her diary looking slightly discontented.

"What's up guys?" She asks turning around.

"Oh nothing much. Hannah's dating Snape, Aden is heart-broken, James is swearing revenge…the usual." Jen replied.

"Hannah and Snape—they're—what! Eeww!" Lily looked disgusted. Andromeda burst into hysterical laughter.

"Well I have better news." Andromeda said smugly. "Sirius and I are official!" She held out her hand with the ring on it.

"Oh! I'm so proud of you! When did this happen?" The girls spent the next hour talking about their days. Lily finished her tale about 'mature' Mr. Potter with a sigh. I'm so confused."

"Well, we'll just have to ride this one out to see if he screws up." Jen said. With that they headed down to dinner.

A/N Whew! That was long! I decided to end that one on a happy sort of sappy moment. What can I say, I suck at writing fluffy scenes, but I absolutely _love_ them. Now what did you think of the emotional rollercoaster that was chapter eight? Try to remember as much from this chapter as possible, there were many hints at things to come. I usually write at night because all my emotions from the day are kept up inside me all day. So that no one but me sees them and I can pour them into the story. It's a healthy vent. (Shrugs casually.) Please Review! Any questions you want answered let me know!

**Celina K2 :)**


	8. Chapter 9

A/N Thank you to my reviewers Sirius4eva, Emrisah, KatrinaRayne, and every one else! If anything you guys read in this story seems a bit on the juvenile side, it's because I'm only 13. Yeah, go figure…Anywho! I went to this Lock In and stayed up till like 6 in the morning! We made brownies at 4 and ate them at 5:15. Fun fun! I would very much like for sixth year to be over so time is about to speed up. Well, after this chapter anyway. I can't wait to write the summer. I have this other story I started writing, it won't be posted for a long time because I'm concentrating on this. But it's set in Harry's time. On to the story:)

**Chapter 9: If I Should Die Before I Wake…**

"This is going to be good!" James said to his fellow Marauders. They sat at the Gryffindor table during breakfast waiting eagerly for the clock to strike 7:35 A.M. exactly. It had taken all night to get everything just right. The prank of the century was about to commence.

"Ye gods. They're _all_ smirking." Jen said fearfully as the girls approached the Marauders.

"What have you done and/or are planning to do?" Lily asked suspiciously.

"Why what ever do you mean, _Lily Flower_?" Sirius asked.

"Yes _Love_, what could we have possibly done?" James said patting the seat beside him. Lily sat down glancing at the seat before doing so.

"Cut the crap Potter. We know you're up to something." Andromeda said.

"My dearest sister _Lady Bug_. If you want to know so much, just have patience." Aden smiled.

"So you are planning something." Hannah's voice was devoid of emotion.

"I absolutely, definitely did not say anything of the sort. You assume to much _Hannah-Hoo_." Aden replied seriously giving her a pointed look.

"She isn't assuming. We all know that you know what no one else knows that you did something." Jen said matter-of-factly.

"_Angelic Jenny_, you confuse me." Remus raised his hands in surrender as Jen responded to the name.

"Have you noticed girls?" Lily asked her friends.

"What?" Andromeda looked puzzled.

"They're using our nicknames. _All_ of them. They only do that when they're--" Hannah finished Lily's sentence.

"Humoring us." The Marauders smiled widely.

"How right you are!" James glanced at the clock as it struck 7:35 A.M. exactly.

And that is when all hell broke loose.

The first course, as the Marauders had planned five, was raining down on the Great Hall. Every person, save the teachers, Marauders, and girls, were being pelted with water balloons. Except they were no ordinary water balloons. When they exploded an instant freezing charm was cast over the victims.

The second course consisted of the Slytherins having they're hair and faces turned red and gold. The rest of the room was turned electric blue.

The third course was exclusively for Severus Snape. He jumped up from the table as if stung. He sprouted a pink serpent tail, a forked tongue that kept darting in and out of his mouth, and his eyes narrowed to slits. Snape (the unfortunate fellow) then jumped up onto the table and began to sing a song professing his love to McGonagall.

_My dear Minerva, whatever would I do? _

_If something were ever to happen to you?_

_The way you teach sets my heart ablaze, _

_Finding your classroom is like trying to walk through a maze!_

_I can't wait to graduate,_

_If I can be with you,_

_With my undying love,_

_You're an angel from above._

The Hall erupted in laughter as the song ended. But they're laughter was short lived.

Because just then the fourth course sent honey pouring all over everyone. Hundreds of pillows were torn open and emptied on to the screaming student body. Cries of "My hair!" and "This was my best robe!" could be heard everywhere.

"And now the finale." James whispered in Lily's ear.

Fire crackers, sparklers, and every kind of firework known to the wizarding world erupted. Brilliant multicolored lights and booms and _wheee_'s filled the air as the finest pyrotechnical display took place.

When the clock hit 7:45 it was all over. Hogwarts students had entered the Hall dry, warm, normally colored, and clean. As the students headed off to class freezing, oddly colored, and resembling abnormally tall chickens; the teachers descended on the only eight people left.

"This is an OUTRAGE! What on earth were you thinking?" McGonagall yelled at the hysterical Marauders. Lily and co. were struggling not to laugh and look disapproving at the same time.

"Sorry Professor laugh we laugh take full laugh responsibility." James fell off his chair in uncontrollable laughter.

"As well you should! That--" McGonagall was cut off.

"Was absolutely uncalled for! Why did you have to pick him of all people? After I explicitly _told_ you not to raise a wand against him. I will personally escort you off the Hogwarts and straight into the heart of the Forbidden Forest, where I will abandon you without wands!" Hannah exploded.

"Miss Lerona that is quite enough! I have no doubt that you boys take responsibility, but seeing as the girls are yet unscathed, all _eight _of you will have detentions. The Headmaster will assign your rooms for Friday night detentions for the rest of the month." With that she walked off.

"Detention! I have never had a detention in my life!" Lilly said furiously.

"Neither have I, and I hadn't planned on starting now. I can't believe you guys got us _detention_!" Jen glared at the Marauders.

"Wouldn't you prefer detention to having that particular prank pulled on you?" Sirius asked weakly.

"No!" Lily and Hannah said in unison.

"Well…" Andromeda toyed with her hair thoughtfully.

"It was rather sweet of them to spare us…" Jen said cautiously. The Marauders beamed.

"You can't be serious!" Lily said. "At least the effects of the prank can be removed. A detention will forever be an ugly black mark on your record!"

"Do me favor Aden?" Hannah said.

"Umm, sure." He replied carefully.

"Never call me Hannah-Hoo again. That is strictly for people whom I favor." She said coldly and headed to class.

Aden stood in her wake looking devastated. He couldn't figure out what he had done to make her so mad. So he had told James about Snape, big deal. He told his friends everything she should know that.

"Lets go to class." Andromeda said resignedly.

"You did it on purpose!" Lily yelled at James.

"No I didn't! I'm telling the truth when I say that Peeves dropped the ink bottle on you!"

"The truth…" Lily had a flashback of that day by the lake. "Yes the truth…"

"Evans, are you okay?" James waved his hand in front of her face.

"Yes I'm fine. Potter, get your hand away from my face." Lily looked around. "Where's Jen?"

"Haven't seen her." Hannah said from her homework.

"She mentioned something about going to the Library." Remus replied helpfully.

"How long ago?" Lily asked.

"Two hours I think."

"I'm going to go look for her." Hannah said. Remus decided to go with her.

One Hour Earlier 

Jen was walking through the East corridor off of the Library intending to go to the Common Room. She had finished most of the homework for the week and wanted to curl up with book for an hour or two. Plus she had a great new spell to show everyone.

Unbeknownst to her Snape had heard Jen telling Lupin where she would be. Malfoy had told him what they were going to do. He had said to target Hannah's cousin for she was most dear to her. It was a brilliant plan and would strike every one of those arrogant Gryffindors. Their prized student was about to be taught the worst lesson of her life.

"Hum-diddle-diddle-dumb…" Jen hummed to herself. Up ahead she saw Snape and Malfoy come from behind a statue. _'Maybe they were snogging!'_ She thought and laughed aloud.

"What's so funny, Darenger?" Malfoy sneered.

"Not that it's any of your concern." She said brushing past them.

"Don't turn away from your superiors when they're speaking to you!" Snape warned.

"I'm a pure blood too, you know. So in a sense I'm _your_ superior. Intellectually, manner-wise, and I'm not spoken ill-of quite as often as the two of you."

"Bold words for a blood traitor." Snape replied.

"But wouldn't it be shame after the little accident you suffered if your friends had to deal with another tragedy?" Malfoy smirked as all color drained from Jen's face.

"No one's supposed to know about that!" Jen quickly glanced around the corridor. It was unusually empty. In fact they were the only people there.

"Well, we have certain connections." He laughed cruelly. "It looks like you're all alone, Darenger. What are you going to do?"

"Don't try running we have this corridor blocked off. You really should be careful about telling people where you'll be. I'm sure Lupin will feel dreadful when he figures out it's all his fault." Snape said with mock concern.

"Why are you doing this?" Jen slid her hand into her robes to grasp her wand muttering a spell under her breath.

"Revenge my dear Gryffindor." Snape said darkly. Jen whipped out her wand and began a spell but was silenced.

"So predictable." Malfoy laughed.

Hannah and Remus walked through the Library looking for Jen. When they didn't find her they headed for the East corridor. Bellatrix was standing at the entrance fiddling with her wand. She looked at her watch, grinned at Hannah, and walked away.

"What was that all about?" Remus asked Hannah.

"I don't know, but I don't like it." She walked into the hallway and screamed.

Remus ran after her to see what was the matter. He stopped short, on the ground was a truly horrific sight. Jen was lying on the ground unconscious. Her robes were torn, her face bloody, and any other exposed skin was bruised.

"Go get the others! I'll bring her to the hospital wing." Remus said and Hannah ran off. Remus gingerly picked Jen up and went as fast as he could to the infirmary without jolting her.

When he got to the Hospital Wing Madame Pomphrey immediately began to fuss over her. The rest of the Gryffindors arrived about five minutes later.

"Hey, you dropped her wand." Lily said picking it up. As soon as she touched it a voice filled the air.

"If you're hearing this than Malfoy and Snape already got to me. This is a new spell, but I don't have much time. The Slytherins blocked off the corridor and those two gits attacked me. Make sure Dumbledore hears this! If I should die before I wake Hannah, tell them everything. They should know, especially—Jen's voice screamed then was abruptly was abruptly cut off.

"That's when she lost consciousness probably." Aden said. "Hannah, what did she mean 'tell them everything'?"

"I can't tell you. If she wakes up, and I'm sure she will, it will be her decision, not mine." Hannah grimaced. "It's my fault this happened. I should have seen it coming. Snape was just to calm."

"There isn't anything we can do now." Andromeda sighed. "Lily, we should bring her wand to Dumbledore, it's what she asked and if it convicts that slime it'll be worth it."

As they walked towards the Headmaster's office a sad silence descended on the usually cheerful Gyffindors. Sirius walked hand in hand with Andromeda the two whispering occasionally.

"Does anyone know the password?" James asked when they reached the stone gargoyle.

"Acid Pops." Lily said and the gargoyle leaped out of the way.

"Headmaster! We need to speak with you immediately! It's really important!" James said knocking on the wooden door. It swung open to reveal Dumbledore sitting at his desk his finger steepled.

"What is the problem? It isn't often I have the pleasure of having certain members of the Gryffindor House in here without being in trouble." His blue eyes twinkled.

"You should hear this." Lily said handing him Jen's wand. When Dumbledore had it the message played itself again.

"My she is a clever girl. That is a Seventh year spell but she did it perfectly. Thank you all for taking care of this, I shall handle it from here." He pocketed the wand and the students walked out.

A/N 2,073 words! Anyway what did you guys think? Sorry for the super long wait! I have been kind of distracted. I'm going to start a poll per chapter. Leave me lots of review so that I will be inspired to write more!

**Poll: What color hair do you have?**

**I'm a blonde by the way, natural! Not like that fake Lindsay Lohan. She used to be my favorite actress, but when she dyed her hair blonde that killed it! LOL!**

**Celina K2**


	9. Chapter 10

A/N Reviews! I'm so very happy! Emrisah, Tamsididi, and every one else! Cookies to you all! I know y'all don't like it when characters die, but eventually I may have to kill someone. (Peeks from between fingers.) I got out of school recently so I should have more time to write. The delay is due to the fact I was kicked out of my room for a week and couldn't use my computer. On to the story!

**Chapter 10: I Wish With All My Heart **

Word of the attack spread through the school like wild fire. Everyone suspected Slytherins did it but no one knew why. Only the sixth year Gryffindors knew even close to the actual story.

"It's been two weeks and she hasn't woken up yet! I can't stand it!" Hannah looked again at her calendar. "Halloween is come and gone; and I'm still dealing with the fact that it's all my fault!"

"Look, I know it's killing you. But we're all suffering." Lily said irritably. James had tripped her into a puddle earlier that day leaving her rather irate.

"Hannah, no one blames you. It's not your fault that Snape is the scum of the Earth and that he has a heart of ice." Andromeda said dryly while flipping through a magazine.

"Dear Merlin! Have you two no compassion? It's my fault that my cousin is practically dead! You're reading a magazine!" She pointed accusingly at Andromeda then at Lily. "And you're complaining about a boy who's in love with you and you're to stupid to realize you're meant for each other!"

"Potter is the—

"We know already Lily so quit bitching!" Andromeda angrily turned a page. The girls continued to sit in silence, pointedly ignoring each other.

The Marauders had over heard the conversation and winced in unison.

"Ouch!" Sirius looked forlornly at his girlfriend. "This has them really bent out of shape. She hasn't kissed me in a week."

"I hope she wakes up soon. It just isn't the same with out Jen." Aden scribbled something on his parchment. "What's the fifth property of merdona root?"

Everyone shrugged.

"If Jen were here she'd know." Aden grumbled.

Remus stared out the window. Snow was just starting to fall onto the frozen ground. November11, two weeks was a long time. There were rumors that St. Mungo's wanted to take Jen. '_It's a good thing Poppy doesn't easily give up her patients._ _Tomorrow's the full moon, so I guess I'll be joining her for a while.'_

"It's the full moon tomorrow." James said quietly to Sirius. "This is killing him more than any of us."

"I bet you ten galleons he tells her the second she wakes up how in love he is." Sirius and James shook hands.

**In the Hospital Wing.**

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Jen let out a blood-curdling scream and shot up in her bed. Madame Pomphrey ran out of the nurse's station to see what the problem was.

"Nooo…" She fell back and lay still. Poppy checked her over and sighed. "Well it's a start." And she began to administer potions.

"It's Midnight lets head out." James covered Aden, Sirius, and himself in the invisibility cloak. They made they're way out to the grounds and over to the whomping willow.

Sirius changed into the dog and playfully dodged the flying branches.

James transformed into his shining white stag and bucked.

Aden held his breath and became a majestic tiger. '_I'm still not used to the whole transformation thing.'_ He thought as the three friends ducked into the passage at the base of the wildly thrashing tree.

When they entered Remus was already undressed and minutes away from morphing into his inner beast. He sent a grateful look toward the animals gathered before him and waved. His face contorted with intense pain, and his back arched. His bones extended and hair sprouted all over his body. Remus' ears and nose lengthened, his nails sharpened and he let out an almighty howl. Remus Lupin had become Remus the lupine.

Andromeda and Hannah were sitting in the Hospital Wing the next day trying to figure out why Remus was out cold in a bed. Didn't he go to his mother's house? And how in the name of Merlin did he get all those bruises and cuts?

Andromeda looked to Jen's bed and gasped. She had her eyes open and looked rather confused.

"MADAME POMPHREY! She's awake! She's awake!" Hannah looked quickly from her friend to her cousin.

"OH MY GOODNESS! Jen!" Hannah ran over to her and gave her a bone-crushing hug.

"Ouch! Hannah get off that hurts!" Jen said after a moment of trying to figure out who she and Andromeda were. "How long have I been here?"

"Close to two and a half weeks." Andromeda said lightly hugging her friend. "We'll go get the others! Madame Pomphrey is going to tell us to leave anyways."

"Yeah. So we'll bring more people to interfere with your recovery." Hannah smiled widely and winked. She and Andromeda walked out of the room leaving Jen to her thoughts. _'Whom are they talking about?'_

After Madame Pomphrey had gone Fabian Pruett strolled in and found Jen. He had short curly black hair, blue eyes, and his Ravenclaw badge shone in the sunlight.

"Hi Jen! How are you feeling? I ran into your friends and they said you had woken up." Fabian smiled.

Jen blinked a few times trying to remember who he was. He looked familiar but she didn't think she knew him.

"I'm sorry. I can't seem to remember very much. Who are you?" She blushed, ashamed that she didn't remember such a good-looking boy.

"Oh." He said slightly taken aback. "I'm Fabian Pruett we're in Arithmancy together."

"Hello Fabian! Sorry about my lapse of memory. How've been doing?"

"Actually I needed to talk to you about something." He cleared his throat. "The prefects have decided that there's going to be a Christmas ball."

"Really? I thought Hogwarts didn't hold balls."

"Well, we're hoping to make something of a tradition of holding occasional balls…It's going to be on the night before everyone leaves for break and I was wondering if maybe, if you know, you would go with me?" It was his turn to blush.

Jen was stunned into temporary silence. She could go with him, what was the harm? She was about to say yes, but there was something at the edge of her mind stopping her. Wasn't there someone she…But shouldn't she wait? _'Blasted missing memory! Just go with him!'_

"Sure Fabian, I'll go with you."

"Really? I mean that's great! Thanks!" He smiled and left. Unbeknownst to either was that their conversation was not oh so secret.

Across the room a certain boy was pretending to be asleep, that certain boy was a certain wolf, and that wolf was wishing the night before had been much worse.

Andromeda and Hannah came in but Jen couldn't figure out who all the other people were. The other girl squealed and rushed over, she squeezed Jen and squealed again.

"I'm so happy you're awake! They wanted to send you to St. Mungo's and everyone thought you wouldn't make it…" Lily's smile faltered. "Jen why are you looking at me like that? Don't you recognize me?"

"No?"

"It's Lily! You know, one of your best friends?" Jen shook her head. "Do you know who they are?" She waved at the boys standing around Remus' bed.

"I'm sorry, I don't! I don't even remember why I'm here. I don't know what I'm supposed to be doing, and what in Merlin's name am I wearing?" She looked in horror at the pajamas she had on.

"All of you, out!" Poppy shooed everyone out. "Both them can leave tomorrow morning if you don't come back!"

"What do you mean both of us?" Jen asked. She hadn't noticed there was another bed occupied.

"Why Mr. Lupin of course." Madame Pomphrey replied. "He arrived early this morning. Now I told them I'd let you go tomorrow so you need to take these potions and rest."

'_Mr. Lupin? Who's…' _Everything came rushing back to her. The day in the Library, Snape and Malfoy attacking her, the spell, Remus. _'Oh my god, Remus! What if he heard Fabian! I can't believe it. This is awful!'_ She got out of her bed and slowly made her way toward Remus.

"Remus? Are you awake?" She moved over a chair and sat down.

"Yeah I'm awake." He rolled over to face her. "Why are you out of bed? A person doesn't go into a coma for two weeks and start walking around!"

"I feel just fine, thank you. If you don't mind me asking, why are you here?" She said with a slight edge.

"Oh…My owl got caught in the Whomping Willow and I went after it."

"That was stupid! Well I'm glad you're okay."

"You are?"

"Of course I am!" She punched him lightly. "Can I borrow your notes for the time I was asleep?"

Remus laughed. "Always thinking of school are we? Yeah you can borrow 'em. I would think you'd want to borrow Lily's though."

"I would but she won't let me anymore."

"Why not?" He asked intrigued.

"The last time I borrowed her notes I decided to have a little fun. In all the margins I wrote Lily loves James, and L&J forever, and other things like that."

"Angelic Jenny had the gall to do something like that?" when she nodded he laughed.

"I'm more devious than you think Lupin."

"I doubt that." He teased.

"Just wait I'll dig up something on you, something good." She smiled. "Whatever secret you're hiding I'll find it."

"You don't have to do that, I believe you." Remus said fearfully.

"What are you so afraid of?" She said slyly. "Now I really want to know."

"Get into bed now! Miss. Darrenger you may feel fine now but you won't later." Madame Pomphrey scolded.

"She didn't remember me! Why didn't she remember any of us?" Lily paced in front of her fellow sixth years.

"She remembered me and Hannah." Andromeda said weakly from Sirius' lap.

"No she didn't, you saw the look she gave us when we walked in. It just took her a minute, I'm sure her full memory will be back in no time." Hannah said.

"You owe me ten galleons James." Sirius said smugly.

"I do?" James had been contemplating when Lily looked better: when she was angry or when she was frustrated.

"Yeah, he said he wasn't going to say anything." Sirius replied.

"Oh yeah. I wonder why." Aden looked between his friends and sighed.

"Are you going to let me in on this?"

"Later, when there aren't female ears in the room." James chuckled.

"I'm going to go for walk." Lily said. She went through the portrait and headed for the Quidditch pitch. Interested, James decided to follow her.

Lily went straight for the school brooms and selected one. She mounted it and hovered uneasily above the ground. She went up a couple feet and screeched.

James laughed. He hadn't meant to, but it was just to amusing. He grabbed his broom and surprised Lily from behind.

"It looks like you could do with some lessons." He struggled to keep the smile from his face.

Lily turned sharply and nearly fell off her broom. "Potter."

"Yes?"

"What are you doing here? I came out here to be alone."

"Why the sudden interest in flying Evans?"

"I wanted to know how." She said barely audible.

"What?"

"I wanted to know how because everyone seems to love it so much. And it's the only class I've ever failed." James chuckled.

"Lily Evans would admit that she failed a class, I feel honored fair maiden." He swept a magnificent bow. Lily wondered how he could keep his balance like that.

"So are you going to teach me to fly or what?" Lily said impatiently.

"You're actually going to let me?" James asked incredulously. She nodded. "Alright then. First lesson, you're sitting to far up. You want to be centered." She moved to the center.

"Okay that's good. Next you need to grasp the handle firmly. That way you can steer without losing control." Lily immediately began to tip forward. James quickly righted her broom. "Grasp firmly but don't push down on it."

Lily looked as if she wanted to take notes. James could almost see her fingers twitching for a quill.

"Are you ready to start flying Evans?"

She tipped uncertainly. "No!"

"Alright then. Why don't I give you another lesson tomorrow after classes?"

"Okay, but you better not try anything."

"Scout's honor." He put a hand over his heart.

"Good, see you tomorrow," She laughed slightly. "James." Lily landed, tripped over the broom, and put it away. James hovered for a while, and then did a few laps around the pitch.

"You're not going to believe what I have to say." Fabian said smugly to his best friend Jason.

"Are you sure about that?" Jason put on a pair of glasses the size of two teacups. "Professor Trelawny says 'I am gifted with the inner eye!'"

"Stop goofing off. This is serious!"

"Fine tell your oh so serious news."

"You know the Christmas ball? Well I got a date."

"So soon? Who is it?"

"Jen Darrenger." Fabian said smugly.

"Wait a minute. Isn't she like in love with Remus Lupin?" Everyone seemed to know except for him.

"She had a temporary memory loss that helped to further my cause." Fabian replied slyly.

"That's low Fabe. Don't you think you should do something about it?" Jason looked at him earnestly.

"When did you grow a conscience?"

"I didn't. I have a lot in the betting pool, you don't want me to lose money do you?"

"She can probably do something worth a lot more than your twenty galleons." They exchanged looks of amusement.

"You never know what's behind a bookish exterior!" Jason laughed.

"If we're talking about bookish exteriors then Lily Evans should be in this conversation."

"Yeah but you know what James would do if anyone 'moved in on his territory.' If you know what I mean?"

"What are you boys talking about?" Alyssa Renda Jason's girlfriend asked.

"Oh you know, this and that." Fabian said casually.

"Just discussing the upcoming ball. Which I look forward to going to with you." You'd never know Jason had been talking about other girls only moments before.

Lily Evans awoke to find a white rose lying on her pillow. Curious, she picked it up and found a card attached to the stem. It read:

You are exceptional 

_You are inimitable_

_You are distinctive_

_You are matchless_

_You are irreplaceable_

_You are rare_

_You are brilliant_

_You are special_

_You are extraordinary_

_You are incomparable_

_You are excellent_

_You are beautiful_

_You are my everything_

_You are unique_

_Closer than you think,_

_Your Secret Admirer_

A/N So what did y'all think? 2,597 words! Who do you think sent the poem? The conversation between Fabian and Jason is what I think male conversations would sound like. If there are any guys reading this I need feedback! The whole story is going to move more towards James and Lily real soon, and I know the next chapter is going to confuse you. A lot. Oh and to clear things up, once again, her name is Andro_meda _not Andro_meada_. Please notice the difference in the italicized portions. Thank you.

**Poll: What is your FAVORITE quote? My favorite quote is 'I reject your reality and substitute my own!' Said by Adam Savage from Myth Busters. **

**I'm leaving Saturday Night to go on a mission trip for a week so there will be a bit of a delay…Whatever, we're all going to be reading The Half Blood Prince so no one will notice. Right?**

**Much Love, Celina K2**


	10. Chapter 11

A/N Hello I have a few warnings for y'all. First off major fluff in this chapter! Also some angst, so prepare your selves! Plus I'm probably going to confuse the hell out of everyone with some of the events. If you have not finished the sixth Harry Potter please do not read the authors notes because I basically shout out the ending. 

**Okay so before I go on to my notes, I'd like to ask my dear cousin and benefactor Hannah a question. What the hell do you mean it wasn't Snape's fricken fault? He listened to Dumbledore plead and beg and ask for mercy! Snape practically laughed at him! HE said the killing curse loud and clear and walked away without a second look! Tell me it wasn't because he's a cold hearted, evil, conniving, ugly, sinister, greasy-haired bastard! Give one good reason to change my mind! **

**Oh and I was really mad for two other reasons. One: Harry broke up with Ginny. Two: Ron and Hermione didn't get together. Oh, and I think it was wicked awesome that Lupin and Tonks are in love. So sweet and it plays right into my story. Now on to chapter eleven!**

**Chapter Eleven: How Lily Evans Really Thinks**

"So who do you think this so called Secret Admirer really is?" Jen asked Lily while sitting in the Common Room twenty minutes after being released.

"I don't know. But I'm sure it was someone wonderful." She replied dreamily.

Hannah was examining the rose and the card. "There aren't any thorns on this. And this ink is all different colors."

"Does this seem familiar to anyone?" Andromeda said uncertainly.

"No, why?"

"Well Zonko's hasn't put that ink on the shelf yet and there are certain people we know who could make it."

"Are you saying that one of the Marauders sent me this? Lily said.

"No, I'm saying that they may have had something to do with this."

"Lily, I have bad news." Remus had just walked in.

"What is it?" She immediately put on her business face.

"The Christmas Ball has been canceled. Apparently Professor Dumbledore has a clogging lesson scheduled for that day and the Weird Sisters are booked every other time."

"Clogging?"

"Well, I'm sure there's a better reason than that but they won't tell us anything else." Remus flushed. "But I actually I also have some good news."

"Well enlighten us why don't you?" Jen said sassily. Remus stared blankly at her for a moment then seemed to collect himself.

"Right…The Potters are holding a Christmas Masquerade ball, and all of you are invited. They do this every year and James is going to send you invitations and explain it more fully." Remus smiled knowingly at Lily. "I just wanted to give you guys a heads up."

"Thanks. Our brake is nearly over so we should head to our last class." Hannah said packing up her books.

"Remus did you invite them?" James asked anxiously.

"Don't you mean did I invite Lily?"

"No…I mean did you invite her and all her friends?"

"Yes I invited them." Remus laughed.

"Come in, come in! We have a wonderful potion to brew today!" Professor Slughorn called to the Gryffindors and Slytherins assembled.

"Consider yourselves very lucky because today we will be brewing a potion called Felix Felicis. Can anyone tell me what it is?" Lily's hand immediately shot up. "Ah, yes Miss Evans?"

"Felix Felicis gives the drinker instant luck in whatever they attempt. However it is illegal to use it in contests or tests."

"Correct! Ten points to Gryffindor!" Slughorn cried proudly. "Who ever brews a successful potion can take a small amount as a prize. Just enough for twenty-four hours of luck. Directions are in your books please proceed."

As every one began to make their potions a certain Slytherin boy was calculating. Severus Snape was studying the list of ingredients and scribbling in the margins. _'The fool who wrote this was obviously not very gifted with Potions.'_

At the end of the lesson only four students walked away with a bottle of gold potion. Lily Evans, Severus Snape, Aden Mellacost, and James Potter. James headed straight for his dormitory, hid his potion, grabbed his broom and went down to the pitch.

There he found Lily with her bag resting against the shed and a broom in her hand. He noticed that she looked pleased to see him and that her hair was in two braids instead of in a bun.

"Ready to do some flying?" James greeted her.

"Yeah, as long as it's slow." She warned.

"Okay then. Mount your broom and kick up. Good, pull your handle slightly up and go up a couple of feet." When they were about twenty feet in the air Lily gave a small scream and shot James a frightened look.

"Can we stop now?" There was a note of panic in her voice.

"Sure. Hold your broom steady and lean forward gently." They began to move forward slowly. "Now to turn shift your weight to either side slightly and guide your handle in the direction you want to go."

James demonstrated by going in circles. Lily watched transfixed. "Now you try." He said supportively.

After about an hour of trial and error Lily had mastered slow, if somewhat wobbly, circles. James instructed her to land and they reached the ground.

"Yay!" Lily squealed triumphantly. "Thank you!'

"Don't thank me just yet. But remember Evans you are inimitable." Lily gave him a strange look.

"Did you say inimitable?"

"Yeah, why?"

"No reason. Just it's not a common word."

"Oh."

"I'd better go." She picked up her bag and walked off. James watched her go and was about to leave when he noticed a worn purple leather book on the ground. He picked it up and looked at the front. In curly silver letters it said _Lily Evans._

'_I shouldn't open this. It's Lily's.'_ But his curiosity got the better of him. He opened the book and flipped through the pages. All of them were blank except for a date at the top of the page. He stopped on two days ago date. James stared at it for a moment then there was a bright flash and he found himself in the girls dormitory. Lily was sitting on a bed and apparently talking to herself.

"Diary, I know I don't usually do this but I'm going to talk about a dream I had. Well actually the boy in the dream I had." Lily's porcelain skin seemed to glow in the diary's depiction of her.

"He's been floating on the edges of my mind ever since. But I can't figure out who he is. All I know is that his eyes are beautiful and somehow familiar. I wish he were real, but he's not. He's too perfect." She said in a whispery dreamy sort of voice. "Those eyes…" Realization seemed to dawn on her. "Those eyes! They're _his_, but they lack that arrogant gleam. No they can't belong to _Potter_!" She spat the last word.

"He is the bane of my existence! The thorn in my side! He says he likes me. But does he really think that I don't remember, don't know that Black dared him in third year? Potter is a fool, not worth my time or energies."

"But I could drown in those eyes…"

James had seen enough he closed his eyes and found himself in the grounds once more. He stuffed the diary in his bag and went up to the castle. Two feelings were raging inside him. The first was a deep regret that she seemed to him so much, and the other was the need to know more about how Lily Evans really thinks.

"Hello Lily. Where have you been all afternoon?" Andromeda asked suspiciously at dinner.

"Oh, you know. At the Library doing homework." Lily said easily.

"Really?" Hannah asked skeptically. "Because Aden said that James told him he'd be at the Library today also."

"And that doesn't seem very likely." Jen continued. "Because he hates the Library."

"And I know you haven't gotten any homework done because none of your books have parchment sticking out of them." Andromeda grinned at the now cornered Lily.

"And we found James' things up in the boys Dorm half an hour ago while you two were missing." Hannah said smugly.

"So we are led to the obvious conclusion that the two of you were together since I noticed ten minutes after you showed up he did." Jen finished.

Lily looked slightly panicked for the briefest of moments. Then her expression cleared. "I have no idea what you're talking about. I did not go to the Library, but I wasn't with Potter."

"Sure you weren't." Andromeda said and continued to eat her mashed potatoes.

"Sssppp."

"Ahhh!" Jen screeched and jumped as she felt someone blowing on the back of her neck. She turned around and found all four Marauders laughing and patting Remus on the back.

"Good one Moony!" Aden said appreciatively.

"I know Stripes!" Remus grinned. "Angelic Jenny is just to jumpy for her own good."

"Can I speak to you for a moment Lupin?" Jen said deadly quiet.

"Sure." Remus replied carefully.

Once the two were out in the hall and alone Jen turned to Remus and said "Look Lupine I don't know what you're playing at but it better stop!"

Remus was nearly as white as a ghost. "What did you call me?" He asked weakly.

"Oh yes you're little secret." Jen grimaced. "It really wasn't that hard to figure out. I've been thinking about it for a long time, way before I woke up. Your nickname, trips to your mothers, and your uncanny hearing. I'm a smart girl Remus, you should known I'd figure it out."

"Do—do the others know?" He loosened his tie nervously.

"No, they haven't paid quite as much attention to you as I have. But it shouldn't be long, I know Lily suspects something."

"So I guess you hate me now."

"No, your condition doesn't really bother me. I know others with the same condition. I want to know why you've been treating me differently since I woke up."

"I haven't. I'm doing what I do to everyone else, I know more about you now."

"How so?" She looked disdainful.

"Why don't you go talk to Fabian about it? I'm sure he could fill you in." He shot back.

"How do you know about that?"

"I was only pretending to be asleep, I heard the whole conversation. I didn't know you felt that way about him, but now I do." He started to turn away.

"I don't like Fabian! I couldn't remember his name then, let alone remember whom my affections truly rest with! I didn't even know who Lily was!" She said tearfully.

"Then where do your affections rest, huh?" Remus glowered.

"Why should I tell you now? Everyone else seems to know, why don't you?"

"I don't know. Wishful thinking? Denial? Take your pick."

"What if he was standing in this very room?"

"Then the choice would be limited, considering there are only two first years standing over there and no one else."

She seemed to come to a sudden decision. "I've liked the same person for a long time." Then before Remus saw it coming she kissed him full on the lips. He finally responded and deepened the kiss. Jen's stomach was doing back flips, she had dreamed of this moment for nearly two years.

Finally Remus broke the kiss. "Me?"

"Well obviously, seeing as how I just kissed you." She laughed. "The girls are going to torture me when they find out."

"So this means you're my girlfriend now right?"

"Yeah, I guess it does."

"Well then, shall go back and greet the peasants?"

"We shall."

The two walked back in together smiling. They walked back to their table and sat down next each other. It was obvious everyone had been talking about the 'fight'. Lily coughed and looked at Hannah who in turn looked at Andromeda.

"So…what was that about?" James broke the silence.

"Oh, just a misunderstanding." Jen said lightly.

"But we made so everything is fine." Remus added simply.

"Great! Now that that's settled, I need to give the girls their invitations." James produced four red envelopes with green writing and handed them to the girls. "I hope you find these clear and are able to come."

Everyone finished their dinner and went to their dorms. As soon as all the girls were in the room Jen gave a delighted squeal.

"What?" Andromeda asked.

"You're not going to believe what I have to say!"

"Tell us!" Lily said impatiently.

"I kissed him!" She replied in a hushed voice.

"Who?" Hannah gave Jen the 'get on with it would you?' look.

"Remus! Who else? I am now the girlfriend of Remus Lupin!" Jen could barely contain her excitement and began to twirl around the room.

"I didn't think you had it in you!" Andromeda said animatedly.

"How was it? Is he good?" Hannah eagerly asked.

"Heaven on earth! Oh my god!"

"Well describe it!" Lily was not leaving any details unheard.

In the next room over a similar discussion was being held.

"So what really happened in the hall?" Sirius said to Remus who was now lying on his bed and staring at the ceiling.

"Why do you want to know?"

"Because it's obvious you did more than 'make up' out there." Aden replied mockingly.

"I think 'made _out'_ is a more appropriate term." James joked.

"Well wouldn't you know Prongs, that's exactly right! You were the first to figure it out." Remus grinned.

"Are you serious?" Aden asked incredulously.

"Actually I am." Sirius received three pillows in the face.

"Yeah, it was great."

"Oh, little Moony is growing up! He has a girlfriend and everything!" James teased.

"Does she know about your lycanthropy?" Sirius asked seriously.

"She figured it out on her own." Remus looked relieved.

"After all that worrying too. Don't you wish you had asked her sooner?" Aden asked.

"No, I'm fine with this. I would've had to tell her if I had asked sooner."

Later that night James had woken up and couldn't fight his curiosity any more. He got up pulled out the diary and went down to the common room, not even bothering to put a shirt on.

He opened to yesterdays date and a flash of light pulled him into the diary.

"Today was so strange diary, I went out to the pitch to try and teach myself to fly when out comes James Potter. Much as I hate the boy I let him give me lessons. I couldn't keep my gaze of his eyes. They were just like in my dream. Friendly and gentle, without the slightest hint of arrogance."

She sighed and twisted a strand of that luscious hair. "I couldn't think straight, and all I could notice were his good looks and charm. Damn hormones! I know what he's really like, but today he wasn't Potter, I'm not sure who he was."

Her expression changed. "If he ever heard this or even looked at you diary, I'd kill him! I'd castrate him! If he found this I'd never forgive him."

Suddenly James found himself face to face with the real girl. She had a look of such pure hate that the contrast between the diary-Lily and the real Lily was shocking. How could he have been just a minute ago seeing her with a dreamy relaxed expression and now she looked ready to kill?

"What are you doing?" Lily was shrilly trying to be quiet.

"I'm sorry! This fell out of your bag today, and I was going to give it back, but I wanted to know what it was!" James pleaded.

"I don't care if you wanted to give it back! You should have returned it right away! That is highly personal, you're stupid but I didn't think you were this stupid!" She yelled at the frightened James.

"But…"

"But nothing! I hate you and nothing is going to change that!" She slapped him hard across the face leaving little pricks of blood where her nails had hit. Lily snatched the book off the ground and marched upstairs.

'_Oh boy did I screw up really bad or what?'_

Lily woke angry and upset and frustrated. She turned over on her pillow and winced. She looked down and found a thorny red rose with a card attached to it. This time it read:

Whatever is true 

_Whatever is noble_

_Whatever is right_

_Whatever is pure_

_Whatever is lovely_

_Whatever is admirable_

_If anything is excellent or praiseworthy_

_I find it in you_

_I never want anything to hurt you,_

Your secret Admirer 

When she picked up the rose a drop of blood fell onto her pillow from her finger

**A/N That last bit with the rose and poem is highly symbolic. It's the same person notice anything though? Well thank you to my reviewers next chapter I'm going to start a review response section so leave me some really long reviews! If you would like to criticize anything on this chapter I welcome it. I think this was a little substandard but I want your opinions**!

Poll: What is your favorite color? Mine is pink! Celina K2 :) 


	11. Chapter 12

A/N Hey y'all! Thanks so much for the reviews there will be personal replies at the end of the chapter.

**So I just have a thing or two to say. This chapter should clear up the whole Lily/James situation, or it could confuse things even more…The main part of this chapter, the Potter's ball, might take two chapters to write. But that also means that these next chapters should be longer. The delay is due to the fact I just got braces and have been in to much pain concentrate for very long. Now onto the story!**

**Chapter Twelve: The Man Behind The Mask**

Lily sat alone in her Dorm and was staring forlornly at the worn purple leather book in her hand. She had received it at the beginning of the school year. It had been a parting gift from her parents. She loved it dearly and couldn't bear the thought of parting with it.

It was a week before term ended and everyone went home for the holidays. It was also a week since James Potter had found her beloved confidante. James' cheek still bore the marks of her rage.

The last week had been tense and nervous. Six Gryffindors wanted everything to be normal and to get along. While one of the other two, Lily, wanted to hate James forever, he felt only remorse and wished desperately that she'd forgive him.

'_He doesn't deserve to be forgiven! I don't care what my friends think; they don't understand how intrusive it was. Everything I didn't want people to know is in this diary!'_

Lily threw her pillow against the wall. The anger she felt was uncontrollable. But there was that small part of her that couldn't help but feel guilty. After all he had apologized and had seemed truly sincere. But he should have known better.

"LILY!" Hannah screamed from the door. "You get down here RIGHT NOW!"

"We are sick of your POUTING!" Andromeda screamed just as loudly.

"We have chocolate covered licorice!" Jen yelled coaxingly. Lily looked up.

"Chocolate covered licorice?" She asked tentatively.

"Yes! But you can't have any unless you come down here." Andromeda replied.

Lily got off her bed and walked to the door. She paused before opening it and walking down to the Common Room. There sat her three friends looking smug and levitating a bag of chocolate covered licorice in the middle.

"You can't have this just yet." Jen raised the bag higher with her wand.

"First, you have to talk this out. What happened to start this feud?" Hannah said determinedly.

"Well you see in first year…"

"Don't be a wise ass. It seemed like you and Potter were starting to get along. What happened?" Andromeda said.

"That's real nice of you." Lily snapped. "He read, well more like he _saw_ what I had in my _diary!_ What did you expect me to do? Act like it was nothing?"

"No, we expected you to behave like you're sixteen! I don't care if I sound like your mother, you should let this go!" The bag of licorice hit Lily smartly on the side of her head.

"I don't even let you guys see what's in my diary! He knew better! He…he…he shouldn't have done that." Lily looked desperately at her friends.

"You knew that things were getting better between the two of you. You didn't like that do you? All you wanted was for things to stay the same, because you're uncomfortable with change." Andromeda looked at the withering Lily. "So you took the first chance you had to get good and angry."

Lily looked at the ground as if imploring it to swallow her up. "I know."

"Then what are you going to do about?" Hannah asked looking at the top of Lily's fiery head.

"I don't know." She replied sullenly.

"For starters, you could go to the ball. I think that would make it up to him." Hannah said sensibly.

"I haven't even looked at the invitation."

"Well, we're all going, so why don't you join us? You're all staying at my house for the Holidays anyway, now no one will be left behind." Andromeda said.

"Fine." Came the grudging consent.

"Good!" Jen said cheerfully and the chocolate covered licorice zoomed into Lily's hands.

"Homework for tonight is as follows. I want a sixteen-inch essay on the proper procedure for transfiguring _yourself _and the consequences if you're not careful." McGonagall said to the class.

"But Professor that means it would be homework over vacation!" James exclaimed.

"Yes, but if you do it tonight before you leave, it won't be a problem." She looked sternly at him over the top of her glasses. "Class dismissed."

Grumbling the whole time, the Marauders made their way to their next class.

"And that was only first period! Imagine what Flitwick is going to assign us after a double period!" Aden kicked the ground. "And all the girls are going to be at my house for the whole vacation! If any of them decide to get into a bad mood, I'm going to pull a Sirius and run away."

"Hey! You should be glad to have a bunch of women lying around the house!" Sirius chuckled.

"However I doubt you need to be reminded which of them are off limits."

"Whatever, I only have to stay for a week. I get stay at your house after the ball." Aden nodded at James appreciatively.

"No dawdling now! Let's all get inside and begin." The tiny form of Professor Flitwick moved to the front of the class. "Today as a special treat we will be going outside and practice banishing snowballs!"

There was an outburst of excited whispers and Flitwick called for quiet. "You will be split into four teams boys against girls each from their own houses. Whichever team gets the most hits, and I have already talked about this with the headmaster, will be excused from all homework assignments for the week after break!"

There was a collective cheer and everyone rushed for the door. As they ran down one of the staircases Hannah, having forgotten the vanishing stair, slipped and sank up to her waist.

She cried out in surprise and immediately asked for help. Jen and Andromeda each took an arm and pulled with all their might. But alas to no avail. Hannah was stuck tight in the stair.

"Oy! Why don't a couple of you boys come pull her out?" Andromeda asked.

James and Aden walked over, surveyed the scene, and promptly began to laugh.

"Oh shut up would you? Get me out of here!" Hannah glared at the hurriedly controlled mirth on their faces.

"Sorry Hannah-Hoo but the sight of you unable to get yourself out and waist high in a staircase was just to comical." James grabbed her left arm and nodded to Aden to pull.

"One…two…three!" The boys heaved and all of a sudden she came free knocking James over who then fell on Lily.

"Potter! Kindly _get off me!_" Lily said to the half dazed boy on top of her. James had hit his head on the stone floor and was quite dizzy once he got up. So dizzy in fact, that he barely registered how close to Lily he had been.

"What's the hold up now?" Squeaked Flitwick.

"Oh, nothing. Someone got caught in the vanishing stair that's all." Aden replied slyly leaving out just _who_ had gotten stuck.

"Well if that's all settled we should head out onto the grounds."

Once outside Professor Flitwick conjured a stool and stood on it so as to be on eye level with his students. "You all know the banishing spell but I'm going to let you in on a secret tip. The key is to have the perfect snowball. The spell for making a pile of perfect snowballs is _perfectio glacisphere_. Just point at the snow and recite the spell There are four markers around the field, find the one that is yours. Then we can start and for every hit your marker will count the score. Begin!"

Before James had even made his snowballs a wet onslaught of them started attacking every inch of him. When at last the bombardment ended he was soggy, cold, and had icy eyebrows. He looked in the direction of the attack and found the source. Lily was brandishing her wand triumphantly and laughing as one last snowball came zooming towards him and hit him in the head knocking him over.

Lily who was watching their marker count their ever-rising score was not paying attention as all four Marauders banded together and sent a combined shower upon the Gryffindor girls. Andromeda screamed as the first one hit and was joined by her friends as they were pelted with snowy bombshells.

Determined to win that free week and happy to have revenge, the Marauders exercised a similar strategy on the other groups. It looked to everyone that they were sure to win when at long last a whistle signaled an end to the fun.

"After all the hits have been tallied, we have a winner!" Short little Flitwick waved a paper to and fro. "and the winner is…the Ravenclaw girls!"

There were shouts of disbelief punctuated by the exultant squeals of the lucky brainiacs. The rest of the day was fairly uneventful and passed slowly for the disappointed Gryffindors.

But then the morning of their departure arrived. Lily had to unsilence a screaming yo-yo to wake up the rest of the dorm, and Remus had to use somewhat, ah… different methods to wake his friends. Such as saying dirty things to Sirius, telling James Lily wanted to meet him downstairs, and tickling Aden's feet.

Last minute packing was an adventure as usual as clothes, books, quills, and occasionally a pair of underwear flew across the room.

"James! What are your _pink silk Quidditch boxers_ doing in _my _trunk!" Aden looked disdainfully at the miniature snitches. "And why do you own a pair of _pink silk_ boxers?"

He threw them at Sirius who picked up the rejected garment and said "You're not starting to swing the other way on us, are you mate?"

"No! Mom bought those for me." He grumbled blushing furiously. "She said they were _adorable_. I've never worn them I swear!"

"Sure you haven't. And I'm sure the Lily thought they were dead sexy when she saw you in the common room the other night." Remus said slyly.

"You know?" James said confusedly.

"I might. See you all in the Common Room." He left a blushing James and two snickering Marauders behind.

"Aha! Over here, I found an empty compartment!" Lily called to her friends.

They all sat down and closed the door. Hannah glanced at each of them in turn and decided that she should tell them.

"Girls, there is something I need to tell you. I don't want you to freak out or say anything until I'm finished. Agreed?" After they had nodded she continued.

"As you know I broke up with Snape and that's what led to Jen's attack. But I never felt less attracted to him. So I asked him back out last week." Jen gasped and glared wrathfully at her cousin. "Please, all I'm asking of you is that you allow me to be happy. Don't condemn this! If you knew him as I do you'd see why I'm doing this. I broke it off because of things he said about my friends. But now I see it was just a defense against my shot. It was a fight and now it's over." Hannah pleaded with her eyes and gave the impression of being on ones knees.

"Well then it's a good thing that he's going to be at the Potter's ball." Andromeda who was most forgiving smiled at Hannah.

"I don't like it, but then I don't like Sirius and Andromeda. I won't say anything." Lily consented.

"He tried to kill me. I'm not going to end up like the others. Think about that, then tell me why I shouldn't care."

Jen sent one more glare towards Hannah and walked out. Hannah tried to follow her but Lily grabbed her arm.

"Give her time. Eventually she'll come back."

Meanwhile Jen had run to the Marauders compartment and poked her head in. Looking for all the world as though she was as happy and content as always she asked if Remus would follow her.

"Sure." Replied the bewildered beau. He followed her out as the remaining boys exchanged looks.

"I guess Darrenger was bored." Sirius said amused.

"I wonder what she wants." Aden said suggestively.

Laughing, James closed the door and turned around pretending to be making out with someone.

Jen pulled Remus into an empty compartment and suddenly began to cry. Quite alarmed by this change he put an arm around her. "What's happened? Why are you crying?"

Controlling herself Jen looked up at him. "Hannah has betrayed me in the worst way."

"How? I thought everything was okay." Remus asked tenderly.

"She's dating Snape! He tried to kill me! How could she do that when she knew that he's a cold-blooded murderer?" A tear dripped down her cheek. "I don't want to end up like my family. What if they break up again and he decides to finish the job?"

"I won't let that happen, Snivellus won't get anywhere near you, I promise. He'll never hurt you again." He pushed a blonde lock out of Jen's face.

They sat in silence for a while as Jen rested her head on Remus' shoulder and he stroked her hair comfortingly. "I have to amount to something. My mother did, but that doesn't matter anymore. It hasn't for years." She said bitterly.

"What do you mean? You're going to be great, your parents will be proud I've no doubt. They should be proud now; you're the top of most of our classes." He had the feeling that to Jen this last comment was hopelessly stupid and ignorant.

"They're not proud. They can't be."

"You're not telling me something, why aren't they proud?"

"Because they're…they're…" She pulled out a picture. Five people smiled and waved. The sight filled her with acidic strength. "They were killed before first year, I had just gotten my letter. They all were, everyone," She paused. "But me."

This was a surprise to contemplate. _But she goes home every summer and break. Where does she stay?_ Remus thought to himself. Not sure what to say he looked at the face torn between sorrow disgust.

"How were they killed?" He softly asked.

"We lived near a little wood where my sister and I would play. It was a full moon and my sister, brother, and I were camping in the backyard. We thought it would be great fun to camp under a blue moon. I went in to the house for a drink; while I was in the kitchen I heard Nallia screaming and David yelling. I was scared so I ran and hid in the attic where my dolls were. I had left the door open by mistake; the muffled noise of a struggle came from my parent's room. I just stayed there in the attic until the next afternoon. I was to scared to leave my little sanctuary. When the ministry found me they sent me to live with Hannah. The werewolf was never found." When she finished the morbid tale she took the picture and tore it in half dropping the pieces on the ground.

Remus was struck by the weight of what he had just heard. The girl that he had loved for over a year was a victim of a Lycanthrope. He couldn't bear to look at her, afraid of the accusatory look that must be there. "Is that what you meant by 'I know others with your condition.'"

"Yes."

"But they didn't find the werewolf."

"No…I did. His name was Anthony Birch; he had a wife and kids, a job at the ministry, and a great life. A neighbor shot the beast and didn't bother with the body. He lived with only a minor wound, and no one but me knows that he killed four people. I didn't turn him in it wasn't his fault." Jen kissed Remus and smiled. "That's why I don't mind your condition, it's not your fault."

"Okay. But are you sure that it doesn't bother you? If I were you I'd hate everyone who had my disease."

"No you wouldn't, you're to kind. Don't tell anyone anything I've said in this compartment, it was for your ears alone, my friends can find out later."

"Alright, but this picture should be mended." He pulled out his wand and put the halves together. "Keep it so that you never forget when you were happy. That time won't come back but someday you'll be just as happy, and that's a promise."

"Jamesie-love! I've missed you so much!" A pretty blonde woman embraced her son tightly. She let go and looked at Sirius and Remus. "How could I forget my second and third sons? Come hug me boys."

James looked around and spotted Lily greeting the Mellacosts. His father Christian Potter looked at his son then where he was staring. "So which of those lovely young ladies has caught your eye?"

"The red head. Her name is Lily Evans." He said coming out of his reverie.

"I'm assuming she's attending the ball?"

"And her friends. Actually I'm surprised she agreed to go." James said thoughtfully.

"Really? Well I'm glad she's coming. Alright Catherine lets get these boys home."

"Dress shopping! Get up all of you, we have to buy our dresses!" Andromeda danced from one bed to the next shaking her friends awake rather unceremoniously. The ball is tomorrow we have to get ready!"

"We're up already! Please don't shout like that!" Lily blearily made her way to the bathroom and locked herself in.

"Bathroom stealer!" Hannah said to the door.

"Chill, there are like four other bathrooms." Andromeda giggled. "Use the one downstairs and to the right. Jen there's one down the hall that's not as extravagant, we wouldn't want to displease Madame Queen."

"Sounds good, we wouldn't want to incur the wrath of Her Majesty."

Hannah walked down the stairs carefully and took the first right she found. She found herself in a long hallway with lots of doors. Deciding it would just be easier to check each one she began her search. First a closet, a study, a library, a spare room, and a second dining room were opened and closed.

The next room she checked was messy, boyish, and large. She looked around and saw a desk, bureau, a door, and finally a bed. The covers were in a tangled heap at the bottom of the bed and a shirt was thrown over one of the posts, a pair of boxers adorned the pillows.

Hannah observed this with an amused expression and was about to laugh when the door opened to reveal Aden fully clothed with wet hair. Imagine his surprise to see Hannah still in a dressing gown standing in his doorway. She blushed hard and looked down.

"I'm lost. Where's the bathroom on this floor?"

"The next door over, didn't Andromeda tell you which one it was?" He looked at the state of his room and grimaced.

"No all she said was that it was on the right. I'll go now." She made a hasty retreat and this time opened the correct door.

Continuing to look at the mess Aden's eyes fell on the bed and he groaned. _I should really clean this place up. Stupid women in my stupid house opening every damn door they find! And why did it have to be her?_ He put the boxers and shirt in the dirty laundry basket and pulled the comforter straight. _Well it's a little better._

&&&&&&&&&&

"What do think of this one?" Lily twirled in front of her friends. She was wearing green dress that had a dark blue trim on the bottom and neckline. The sleeves came to her elbows and belled out, the pleats in the floor length skirt flared to reveal dark blue silk.

"It matches your eyes, and it complements your hair." Andromeda said surveying the dress with a trained eye.

"Get that one Lils, it's the best so far." Jen added.

"I rather liked the gold one but I suppose this is fine if the rest of us can pick out a dress now." Hannah looked impatient.

"Good. I'll pick out some matching shoes and get it." Lily changed into her clothes and waited for Hannah to try on her first choice.

She walked out in a black dress with white accents. A bit of white lace came out of the bottom of the skirt, which was just above her ankles. Andromeda liked but Lily and Jen did not. So out came the second dress.

This gown was a cloud of purple. The torso was a lavender color that gradually faded into a deep plumb as the eye traveled down the dress. It ended just under the knees and swished softly with every movement.

"That's gorgeous! Oh Hannah get that one!" Lily admired the petal like bottom.

"Very nice, the color goes well with your skin tone." Jen said.

"Alright then it's my turn!" Andromeda went into the dressing room with several gowns on her arm. She walked out a minute later looking positively stunning. A red knee length dress with a slit up to the middle of her thigh adorned Andromeda's figure. Long sleeves fell from the off-the-shoulder top that tapered her waist gracefully and dropped in soft folds into the skirt.

"The rest of us will look like we're wearing potato sacks compared to this Goddess." Hannah looked enviously at her friend.

"Take it off, I can't bear to stand in front of your beauty any longer. Get out of my sight!" Jen teased.

"Can we refer to you as Queen of the Stars now?" Lily said receiving only blank stares. "Oh for heaven's sake! The galaxy called Andromeda, the one we studied in Astronomy." She sighed. "Fine whatever, it wasn't that funny anyway."

"I already know what dress I'm going to get. But I'll try it on for you anyway." Jen came out in a black ball gown that was just below her knees in the front and got longer in the back the lining was a silvery blue as was the tie round her middle and the mask in her hand.

"What a grand time this will be." And with that they set out for home.

&&&&&&&

"The guests start arriving in an hour and you boys aren't dressed! Hurry up and get ready!" Catherine Potter shouted from behind her silver mask.

"Okay Mrs. Potter." Remus said respectfully.

After much hassle and fifteen minutes later the three boys stood in their ball costumes neat and proper. Their costumes basically consisted of a different colored tux and mask.

James: A green and gold tux with a mask that much resembled an oddly colored peacock.

Remus: A deep maroon tux that had coattails to the floor, his mask was a simple black edged in maroon.

Sirius: A tux split down the middle. On one side it was black and silver pin stripes and on the other white with thick red stripes. His mask was the same only reversed.

"I wonder Aden is going to be wearing." James straightened his tie.

"Boys get down here and greet the guests!" Once they gotten to the parlor Mrs. Potter looked them over and nodded. "Interesting choice Sirius."

"Well you know it suits my personality. Debonair and wild at the same time."

"Remember the rules. Reveal to no one your identity and don't unmask until one o'clock." Mr. Potter reminded them. Now let the Ball begin!

"Lily this came for you." Andromeda came bearing a small box.

"What is it?"

"It came by floo, I have no idea." She replied handing over the box.

Lily opened the box carefully to reveal a corsage of white roses with a card attached. It read:

_Masquerade,_

_Paper faces on parade,_

_Masquerade!_

_Hide your face _

_So the world will_

_Never find you._

_I'll see you tonight _

_Your Secret Admirer_

A/N Holy Smokes! That was 4,056 words! I would have written more but it's been so long since I last updated. What did you think?

**Emrisah: I also wish I had a secret admirer, but we can't all be lucky. Sigh Anywho, yes the rose was red but now is white. You'll never guess what that is all about!**

**Hannah: Dear cousin, I forget what you wrote so I will just say to you, what did the poem come from. It is a direct quote, please guess what it is or I'll never let you live it down.**

**The Original Meathead: Thanks for the review, it's always good to have a new reviewer. It made me very happy and I award you a Sirius Black plushie doll!**

**If I forgot anyone I'll get you next chapter! I want your views about Jen's story. It took me a long time to write.**

**Review!**

**Celina K2**


	12. Chapter 13

**A/N IMPORTANT NEWS! I have my own account now so the story will be under the name GoldenLocket14 after this chapter! Please remember that!**

**I have a special award for the first person to review the new chapter. Today the Golden Booky goes to…Emrisah! Congratulations what do you propose to do now? Lol! There is so much midless fluff in this chapter I wanted to scream! See Hannah spent the night at my house and we decided to write this chapter together, and she likes fluff so there's a bit to much for my liking. Anyway I have heard some suspicions that people think they know who our secret admirer is. Well, let me tell you, the secret part will surprise you to no _end_. So I'm going to hope to get this chapter and maybe the next up before the eighteenth, because I will be leaving and won't be back for two weeks. I know, I know how can I be leaving _again?_ That's not important right now, the story is important so here we go! (There is nothing wrong with title I did that on purpose.)**

**Chapter Thirteen: The Man Behind The Monster**

"It seems that your admirer likes you again." Hannah observed from her spot in front of the mirror.

"What do you mean?" Lily had strapped the corsage to her wrist, the white roses looked well with Lily's fair skin.

"I mean he's given you white thorn less roses again after two weeks of giving you _red thorny_ roses. The first one was also white and thorn less. Obviously something you did has changed his opinion. Just like you did two weeks ago." Hannah put on her mask.

"Actually that's a good point. So who have you wronged and made up with lately?" Andromeda said thoughtfully.

"Well, I can name someone. But I don't think Lily wants to hear it." Jen smiled.

"Oh no, not again. It is not James-bloody-Potter! We already discussed this. Anyway these poems are to sweet, and thoughtful. He couldn't have written them." Lily looked at her masked friends. "Your feather isn't straight." She added to Hannah.

"Oh!" After fixing it she observed herself and gracefully twirled. She pitched her voice slightly higher. "I'd be glad to dance sir."

"Lily you'd better mask up so we can leave." Andromeda tutted. "Remember we can't let on who we are to anyone. It's crucial you say no ones name, especially your own."

"Okay, I'll go through first and then Andromeda will go. Wait two minutes between each person." Mrs. Mellacost stood in front of the fireplace. "Your brother left five minutes ago so now it is my turn."

Eight minutes later Lily was the last one standing in the parlor. She vaguely wondered if James' house was much bigger than this one. Then dismissed the thought thinking it couldn't be.

Finally she grabbed a handful of floo powder stepped into the fireplace and shouted "Potter Manor!" As she spun from one fire to another she realized just how strange a way to arrive for a ball this was. Very ungraceful and a sure fire way to get your dress dirty. (Another pun, when will the madness stop?)

At long last Lily stumbled out of the huge fireplace in Potter Manor. Amazingly there wasn't a speck of soot on her dress. A man who she thought must be Mr. Potter helped her up and said cordially "Welcome to the Masquerade! The ballroom is just down the hall."

"Thank you very much." Lily replied remembering to disguise her voice. As she walked down the hall she noticed that several people were just standing in there. Then she noticed that all of them were wearing the same black tux. Choosing to ignore them she walked into the ballroom.

The lavish room before her was grander and larger than she could have ever imagined. Already a lively gavotte had started up and several people were dancing on the intricately tiled floor. Chairs lined the blue walls where a few spectators watched the proceedings from behind gay (you know, gay as in happy) masks. Looking up Lily marveled at the gold dome of a ceiling, winding patterns seemed to move along it if one looked at them for too long.

A mirror hung on either side of the doorway. Lily looked at her reflection and smiled. Her fiery hair hung in a halo of curls instead of her usual wavy sheet. Andromeda had insisted on disguising her locks because they were sure to give away her identity.

With a final glance at the mirror Lily determined that her mask was in place and that nobody would recognize her. She then set out for the dance floor and joined the throng.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"Recognized anyone yet?" Sirius said to James.

"No one. Still looking for our fourth counterpart?"

"Yeah, haven't spotted him." The two looked around the room and couldn't see anything that might distinguish their friend.

"Looking for me?" James and Sirius both jumped and turned around. A tall smiling figure greeted them wearing a white mask that appeared to change colors. Sirius leaned closer but couldn't tell if he was imaging it or not.

"Great mask." James commented. "When did the girls get here?"

"Two minutes after I left Mum did, two minutes later Andromeda did, then Hannah, then Jen, and Lily left last at 8:00 exactly." Aden's smile was smug.

"If you left first how do you know?" Sirius asked suspiciously.

"We worked out the plan ahead of time. When the girls were practicing curtseying, being polite, and going over the rules." His smile widened. "And I know what they're wearing!"

James jumped on that little tid-bit. "What's Lily wearing?"

"I'll tell you, for a price."

"Name it I'll pay it."

"I'll tell you the price later, after the ball. But if you don't pay up I'll have a consequence ready. Her dress is emerald green with dark blue trimming. The mask is dark blue with white gems lining it, it covers her face from forehead to just above her lip."

"Detailed, very detailed. Just how closely did you look at _all_ of them?" Sirius asked mischievously.

"I knew you guys would want to know what they were wearing." Aden replied simply.

"Thanks!" And then James was gone.

As he moved through the crowd a song ended and another one was just beginning. A mass of red curls walked away from a partner and stood for a moment looking slightly lost. James moved behind her and tapped her shoulder.

"Would you like to dance?" Lily turned to find whom the deep mature voice was coming from. A handsome young man who quite towered above her held out his hand.

"It'd be my pleasure." She replied and then off she was swept.

The waltz was a slow one and so allowed for conversation.

"How are you enjoying the ball?" James asked careful not to let her recognize his voice.

"It's wonderful. I lost my friends long ago but I'm having a marvelous time anyway." Lily smiled that dazzling smile of hers. "Do you know the Potters?"

He coughed. "We're acquainted. James and I have chatted a few times."

"What do you think of him?" Lily looked quizzically at the eyes she couldn't see his mask shadowed them.

James coughed. "Well he's a nice chap. Always talking about this girl though. What was her name again?" Lily sucked in a breath. "Lilac…Lavender…Lily! That's what is was!"

She tried to seem uninterested. "Really? Oh, let's talk about something else. Have you ever read Shakespeare?"

"Have I ever! But I think my favorite would have to be The Merchant of Venice. It's quite an enticing tale."

"Mmmm, that one is just about the best. That is of course next to Romeo and Juliet. You strike me as odd Mr. Mystery. It's not often I come across a guy who enjoys Shakespeare." The song ended. In parting Lily offered a compliment. "I must say you have me quite charmed. I hope I may dance with you again soon?"

"I'd love to."

"Good." And then the crowd hid her from view.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"Could you hand me one of those glasses?" Hannah asked a man standing near the champagne.

"Of course." When he turned to hand her the glass Hannah could have sworn the color changed at least twice. But looking at it now it was only a shimmery white.

"Thank you. How many dances have you had, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Only one or two. I mostly like watch unless my partner is quite interesting." Hannah did not know this man, but he certainly recognized her. The figure in purple was one he had long admired.

"I see. What kind of girl do you find quite interesting?" She asked coyly.

"That remains to be seen doesn't it?" Aden led the unsuspecting Hannah to the center of the dance floor. Lifting Hannah's left hand and gently placing his hand on her waist, he began leading them in a graceful waltz. The two were laughing and having an engaging conversation. They did not notice a tall, cloaked figure coming towards them with a purposeful stride until he stopped by them and roughly took Hannah from Aden's arms.

Aden looked at the man with disgust and shock. He wore all black. Black shoes, pants, shirt, vest, even his jacket and cape; the only color to be seen in this darkness was a deep blood red lining the inside of his cape. His mask was skull white and covered the right side of his face, lifting only to allow room for his mouth and a slit for the covered eye. _'My God,'_ Aden thought to himself. _'He's the Phantom of the Opera.'_

Aden opened his mouth to tell off the interrupter of his dance. But the figure was gone with Hannah before a sound came out.

&&&&&&&&&&&

"Severus!" Hannah pulled her arm free of his iron grasp. She tugged her mask off and went to lean over the railing surrounding the Potter's balcony. "Why are you being like this? You're acting ridiculously jealous." She looked out over the vast garden and sighed. "It's not like I'm going to leave you for someone else."

Behind her Severus shifted uncomfortably and he moved to stand next to her. "Hannah he's a," His voice seemed almost pained but at his next word the tone shifted to cold anger. "He's a Marauder. One of those noble souls who clean the school by making my life miserable." He was gripping the railing so tightly that his knuckles were white. Hannah turned and looked at him, puzzled. Seeing her expression Severus spat out, "Aden!" With so much venom and force did he utter that name that the girl flinched. She turned and walked a bit away from him.

"You don't have to yell at me. I didn't know, and what does it matter anyway?" She told her boyfriend in a carefully controlled voice, but it was obvious to him that she was crying.

Unable to come up with anything comforting to say Severus walked over to Hannah and put his arms around her waist. Almost immediately she turned and buried her face against his chest, throwing her arms around his neck. Severus gently kissed her on the top of the head before pulling away and bending down to retrieve her mask.

"We wouldn't want anyone to know who you are, now would we?" He said with a smile as he carefully fitted the purple mask lined with purple feathers and amethysts over her face. In response Hannah grinned at him, and, linking arms, the two re-entered the ball.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"Excuse me miss?"

Andromeda looked up and found a man in the craziest outfit she'd ever seen. A smile played on her lips.

"Would you like to go try some full frontal snogging in the corner?"

Andromeda had caught on by now that it was Sirius who was talking to her. "Only because you're so suave and debonair."

He chuckled. "You look stunning tonight."

"Now I feel it thanks to you."

"But let me ask you one question." Sirius grinned slyly. "Have you ever danced with the devil by the pale moonlight?"

"No, but I'd like to give it a try."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Lily looked around and spotted the figure in green and gold. Breathlessly she walked to him and curtsied. "Dance with me again?"

"I'd be honored." James walked onto the dance floor with Lily feeling somewhat guilty. She had no idea that the man she had become quite fond of was the same person she hated most. Dismissing this thought and deciding to have a good time James began to dance in time with the music.

"Remind me, when do we unmask?" Lily tried again to glimpse the shadowed eyes.

"At one o'clock the announcement will be made." James said trying to cover his nervous his nervous tone. Apparently he didn't do such a good job.

"What are you scared of?" Lily asked.

"I'm afraid you might not like me so much once you find out who I am."

"Why wouldn't I? You seem like a perfectly charming person. I'm not sure how I couldn't like you."

"Yes well, I suppose time will tell."

&&&&&&&&&&&&

Jen was sitting in one of the chairs trying to spot her friends. Lily was dancing with the same person for the third time.

"I wonder who she's dancing with…"

She shifted her gaze to the refreshment table and noticed Hannah beaming at a man all in black.

"Look at his nose! I only know one person with a nose that huge!" Jen glowered.

"She'd better be careful that thing could shoot her eye out." Jen started to find a young man also observing the couple.

"Who are you?" She asked bewildered.

"I can't tell you remember?"

"Oh yes…Do you know how many Slytherins are here?"

"Quite a few considering this is a mostly pure-blood event. All the Blacks are here and most of Bellatrix's cronies. I'm assuming your Gryffindor from the way you ask?"

"I can't tell you that, remember?" She chuckled.

"I suppose you're right."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Severus Snape was standing with his arm around his girlfriend as the two watched people dancing before them. Every now and then Severus would comment on the dress or manners of the dancers, usually rudely. Through it all Hannah gazed up at him with such obvious adoration that it would sicken most of her friends if not all. Glancing down at her for barely a moment Severus smiled and held his head higher.

"Let's go outside, shall we? You seemed to love the garden." He spoke uncaringly and privately was disgusted that he was in his enemy's home.

It was a good deal colder than it had been and Hannah found herself wishing she had long sleeves. Noticing her shivering Severus took off his cape and wrapped it around her shoulders. Smiling to herself she took his hand and the two walked to a stone bench in the center of the garden.

Sitting down, Hannah snuggled closer to Severus. Snow was beginning to fall and the garden looked magical. She couldn't hide her awe of it as she looked around.

"This is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen." She said breathlessly, partly to herself and partly to Snape.

"It is quite beautiful." He agreed. "However it pales in comparison to you." Music drifted down to them from the ongoing ball. He stood and bowed. "Would the Lady kindly favor me with this dance?" He asked holding out his hand. I doubt that the couple even took one step. Because in the freezing cold of winter, outside Potter Manor, Severus Snape asked Hannah if he could kiss her, and she replied "Yes."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Aden saw Remus near the food and strode toward him purposefully. "So I saw you talking to Jen."

"That was Jen?" Remus asked.

"Yeah, you didn't know?" Aden laughed. "Oh, poor Remy. Well she'll know it was you soon enough."

"What's the time?"

"One minute till unmasking. Or didn't you notice that the music stopped?"

"No I guess I didn't. Where are James and Sirius?"

"Not sure. But I'm fairly sure I saw Sirius dancing a moment ago. I guess all those stupid lessons last summer paid off." Aden's mouth twisted into a grimace at that memory.

"I still can't get over that Mrs. Potter made all of us take lessons." Remus smiled ruefully. "I heard the Leronas forced the girls into them too."

"Look Mr. Potter is making the announcement." Aden pointed to the small stage where the band was.

A silence fell over the room and Mr. Potter looked at the large clock behind him. "In twenty seconds we will reveal ourselves! When the clock strikes one take off your mask and prepare to be surprised!"

All eyes turned to the clock. _Tick, tick, tick, DONG!_ It resounded through the room echoing off the walls. Many a breath was sucked in as masks fell from the guests faces, and then let out in a gasp of surprise.

Lily took off her mask and hurriedly searched the crowd for her mystery man, sure he'd turn out to be her secret admirer. She walked past Sirius and Andromeda as they laughed at everyone around them, past Hannah making eyes at Snape, and finally spotted him with his back turned.

Lily could barely contain her excitement as she stepped up behind him. "So Mr. Mystery, turn around and be one no longer!"

He didn't turn. "Before I do I want to make some things clear. Obviously I am someone you know. Also obviously I'm the one who's been sending you the roses and cards. So before I reveal to you my true self I want you to remember the man behind the monster."

"What do you mean?" Lily was quite confused and didn't make the connection most people would. Probably because she didn't want to.

"Here I am." James turned and said limply. He winced at the look of utter surprise that greeted him on that angelic face.

"James?" Stunned as she was, Lily forgot to use his last name, which had long ago become an epithet to his ears.

"I warned you that you might not like me so much anymore. Sorry, I'll go now." James looked once more at those emeralds that were even more pronounced because of her dress.

"Wait." James stopped. "Then you knew it was me, the whole time. Of course Aden told you, I should have expected it." She paused, calculating. "Don't say sorry. I learned a lot about you tonight I wouldn't have bothered with before. Did you really send me all those poems?"

"Yes, it was really easy to ask one of the younger girls to deliver them for me. A first year, her name was Arietta."

"I'm impressed, and very flattered. So I think I should thank you." Lily glanced at the mask in James' hands. "I wondered why you had a mask that hid your eyes. I would have recognized you immediately."

James stood there trying to absorb this information and praise while Lily seemed to be studying him all the more carefully. As if she half expected for him to disappear and for this all to be a dream.

"This doesn't mean I'll date you so don't try asking. But it does mean I'm going to be friendlier and try harder to understand and tolerate you. And this is how I'm saying thank you." Lily reached up and kissed James. She held there long enough for him to kiss her back and pulled away smiling. "Your welcome." And with those final words she went to find her friends.

**A/N I finally finished the ball! What did you think? I need to know! There was a bit too much Snape in this for my taste, but as Hannah wrote those scenes with Snape I put them in. But because I am the authoress and she the advisor I say that it's my bloody story and I'll do with it what I like! I won't be able to post again for a while so I tried to lengthen this for you. Oh, and did any of you notice that in Book two Draco uses the spell _Sectumsempra_? The one Snape invented? I can't do individual replies today but I'd like to thank my new reviewer Floating Bubbles. Andromeda's mask was plain old red, Jen's was shimmery blue, I described Hannah's and Lily's in the chapter so I won't say them now.**

**Poll: Who is your favorite pairing in this story besides Lily and James? They don't have to be dating either, I want to know which you like best.**

**Celina K2 **


	13. Chapter 14

A/N Hey y'all! I'm back from the deep wilderness of the cape! Lol! Review replies will be at the end of the chapter. (Cue girlish squeal) I got FOUR reviews! In my mind that's a lot. So now onto the story that I have spent much time writing.

**Chapter Fourteen: Love Her Never More**

James never expected it never even saw it coming. What he had seen coming was a slap. For what he wasn't sure, but it seemed like the sort of thing that Lily would do.

But all of a sudden James found himself face to face with her only centimeters apart. But it was at that first contact that James knew he really was in love with Lily. Bliss exploded in the back of his mind; fire works seemed to go off. Certainly he had dreamed of this, longed for it, since fifth year, but he had never imagined kissing Lily Evans would feel so good.

When she pulled away with a funny sort of smile James wondered just what she had felt. All he could think of was that he was the luckiest, and by far the happiest man alive.

His Fathers words brought him out of his reverie. "The Ball will continue but I ask anyone who has yet to graduate from school, please follow Mrs. Potter and Mrs. Mellacost. They will take you to your rooms."

A small gathering of Hogwarts students, a few from each house, drifted out of the ballroom and were separated according to House. Many of the Slytherins were throwing disgusted looks at Snape. Bellatrix, Narcissa, Regulus, Goyle, Nott, and Snape stepped into their assigned room. As the door closed Bellatrix could be heard shouting.

"This is just a guess, but I suspect you are the cause of _that_." Jen said to Hannah in an undertone looking at the closed door as they passed.

"I don't really care even if I am. I'm too happy to care, just as I am to stubborn to give into your sour views." Hannah said turning her attention to Mrs. Potter.

"Jamsie-love do me an ickle favor?" Mrs. Potter addressed her son. James cheeks were flaming as his friends snickered. Didn't that woman realize that _Lily_ was standing there? "Take this lot to the spare wing, there are three rooms. That should be sufficient."

The two mothers walked away knowing perfectly well Catty had done that on purpose to James. A mother can have some fun once in a while can't she?

"Jamsie-love, do me an ickle favor and open the door for me?" Andromeda said grinning wickedly at James. Hannah doubled over laughing and would have fallen if Aden had not caught her arm. Sirius and Remus were making cooing noises and looking with mock pride at James. Jen had her arm around James' shoulders and was stifling a laugh.

Lily made the difference though. She caught James' eye and smiled slightly. She shook her head to indicate that he just open the door and take it like a man.

Swallowing his pride, and embarrassment, he opened the door led them into the spare wing. Lily and Jen gasped in surprise. They had never visited Potter Manor and didn't expect to find vaulted ceilings, expensive furniture, plush carpets, and many other signs of just _how_ wealthy James really was.

"This isn't a house, this is a whole separate country!" Jen looked around the middle room. "It could be considered a pilgrimage to walk the entirety of this place."

Sirius, Aden, Remus, Hannah, and Andromeda exchanged glances, then glanced at Lily and Jen, then turned to James and laughed.

"Obviously you've never been here." Remus wrapped an arm around Jen's waist. She threw him a dirty look but didn't push him away.

"Excuse me." Andromeda said getting everyone's attention. "I call for a meeting in the girls room." She looked at her boyfriend and grinned. "Only girls though."

"I second that motion." Hannah declared.

"We pass the motion." Lily said speaking for both her and Jen.

"Then it's agreed, all the boys must stay out of our room and make no attempt to speak with us until we come out." Andromeda led the way to the room that was theirs. After they had filed in and the door secured, Aden casually walked to the door and peered in the keyhole.

"Damn! They've blocked it!" Aden turned to his friends and shrugged his shoulders.

"Should that mean something to me?" James asked.

"Yes, unless you don't want to hear what they're talking about."

"Oh yea of little faith." James smiled mischievously. He walked to the wall just left of the door and pulled down a section of wallpaper. There was a grate in the wall that you clearly see through and hear what was going on, on the other side. James put a finger to his lips to signal silence.

"Alright first off, I want to know who Lily was dancing with all night." Andromeda demanded.

"My secret admirer." Lily said.

"Well who was he?" Hannah was laying on a fainting couch her dress falling gracefully to the floor.

"A good kisser." Lily tried to keep from smiling.

"Lily just tell us!" Andromeda said anxiously.

"You kissed him?" Jen asked thoughtfully.

"I do wonder, what if I told you I don't know his name?" Lily asked them.

"We'd call you bloody liar. And if you still didn't tell us we'd strip off your dress and toss you out with the boys in your underwear." Hannah looked menacingly at Lily.

"No you wouldn't." Lily replied calmly.

"And why not?" Jen was sitting on one of the beds cross-legged.

"Because, those are your boyfriends out there, and you wouldn't want them looking at me." Lily smiled at them much like a cat would smile at a bird.

Andromeda opened her mouth to say something but closed it almost immediately. Jen scowled but then brightened. "I know Remus and Sirius are like brothers to you, and Aden doesn't have a girlfriend, so the only one left out there that you would care about is James."

"You're right! We could throw her out there!" Andromeda cried.

"You have your choice, tell us who this boy is, or fulfill James fantasies." Hannah said her eyes sparkling.

Needless to say Lily felt cornered. She fully believed her friends (Ex-friends) threats. After all, in fifth year they had taken pictures of her snoring and sent them by post to her crush because she wouldn't tell them what had happened after her meeting with Dumbledore and James.

"Fine I'll give you a hint. He's single, he doesn't have a twin sister, and he's standing outside this room listening to our conversation."

"We're screwed!" James hurriedly covered up the grate just as Jen came out of the room and gave the Marauders a wrathful look. She made a show of being extremely angry while she closed the door. Once it was closed however she turned to James and grinned broadly.

"It's about bloody time you got her to kiss you! But don't try it again anytime soon. That was just her way of saying she's going to be civil with you." She glanced at Remus. "Next time dear, please don't listen on or bad things will happen."

She re-entered the room and this time put a pillow over the grate.

&&&&&&&&&&

"A Gryffindor! Are you that thick?" Bellatrix yelled at a passive Snape. "How could you commit such a betrayal? What would Lucious say?"

"It's not what he'd say, it's what he'd do that's important." Regulus glared at Snape.

"Severus what were you thinking? She's not one of us." Narcissa said her voice slightly whiny.

"I was thinking that maybe it'd be alright." Severus' face remained unreadable.

"Why would it be alright?" Goyle asked gruffly. "If word got around Slytherin's reputation would be forever ruined!"

"Wasn't it your idea to go after her pretty little cousin in the first place?" Nott asked nastily.

"Darrenger was asking for trouble anyway. She and Mudblood think they can be rude with their superiors." Snape growled. "That smart mouth of hers was bound to bring trouble down on her."

"The Dark Lord would not be pleased." Bellatrix said. A hush fell over the Slytherins. It was well known that Bellatrix and Lucious already had the Dark Mark, and they were spies for him. But it was hardly ever mentioned.

"Bella, you're not going to tell on him are you?" Narcissa asked timidly.

"You make it sound like we're ten!" Bellatrix snapped. "I won't _'tell on him'_. At least not this time. And only if you break it off with that Gryffindor whore."

"A whore? Under what pretense?" Snape's eyes flashed.

"I'm sorry have I struck a nerve?" She sneered. "You have no problem breaking up with her, but when I bring to light what she actually is, then you get angry."

"You're a fine one to talk Bella. If only dear Rodolfus knew how you entertain yourself in his absence." To-shay.

Bellatrix studied the ring on her right hand. "Yes well, what he doesn't know won't hurt him. I wouldn't want to deprive the boys of their fun."

"You disgust me." Snape replied.

"Break it off Severus. I can't imagine how your pride allows you to even think of a Gryffindor in a flattering light." Her eyes bored into his. "If you do and the Dark lord never finds out about your awful mistake, you may be one of the lucky few to receive your Mark before graduation."

Snape struggled to keep his face blank. Thoughts raced through his mind at a million miles per second. One thought broke through to his face for only a moment, but Bellatrix saw it.

"You love her." She laughed scornfully.

"I don't." His eyes said differently.

"You do. Here's what you have to do. If you don't the Dark Lord will kill her, and you." She smiled evilly. "Love her never more."

&&&&&&&&&&

The next morning everyone went home and Aden stayed with the Potters. The ball had been such a success that Catty couldn't wait to have another.

The rest of the vacation was spent lounging, shopping, and enjoying the holiday in general. Hannah went the remaining two weeks blissfully unaware of what had gone on in the Slytherin room. Everyone was happy and content when it came time to go back to school. Everyone except Snape, that is.

Goodbyes were said and hugs were given, and Hogwarts students boarded the train. Snape sat in a compartment by himself. Bellatrix had told him to break it off before they got to Hogwarts. He wasn't going to, but now he had no choice. Voldemort was to give Snape his Mark in a week's time, in the Forbidden Forest.

So in his head he rehearsed exactly what he was going to say. But behind it all, in the back of his mind all Snape could hear was that dire sentence. It would seal his fate and change him forever. Love her never more.

A/N I know that chapter was the really short, but I needed to get it up. Highschool freshmen orientation is tonight! My dear cousin will hate me for this chapter, and the next, but someday she may forgive me. Review replies!

SiRiUsLyCrAzY4124- It took me forever to write Jen's story so I'm glad someone liked it!

**HarryluvsMoaningMyrtle- What a twisted name you have. Lol! Snape is gross, I'm afraid I can't change that, no one can. Thanks for the review!**

**The REAL Fire Snake- Hannah, I promise the next chapter will be on my account! Oh, you are very predictable, and will never surprise me! Lol.**

**Emrisah- I did have fun, there were cute boys and awful girls, and cute boys…Hannah would say Snape does care, but I disagree.**

**FloatingBubbles- That's my favorite pairing too! I'm glad you like the story, I pour all my thoughts into it. I had to get some L/J fluff in, it made me happy to make my reviewers happy.**

**Ronnis- You're new, I appreciate your review sooo much! Lily has to be friendly with James, I'm almost done with sixth year!**

**Celina K2/GoldenLocket14 **


	14. Chapter 15

**A/N Hey! I'm already in school, so I'm definitely going to have less time to write. I plan on finishing up Sixth year in two chapters so be prepared for very long chapters or very short…It truly depends on how many ideas I can come up with. Tell me, do want Seventh year to be a sequel or do you want it to be the same story? Well on to chapter 15!**

**Chapter Fifteen: Mark Of The Beast**

"Can someone please shoot Slughorn?" Jen threw her quill onto the table spattering Aden with ink.

"Watch it would you?" He wiped ink off his cheeks and glared at Jen for a moment while she ranted.

"This is absolutely ridiculous! What does this have to do with Potions? He's a pompous, overbearing, attention seeking, sucking up, fat little—Remus no!" He leaned over and pulled her into a passionate kiss.

"Ow Ow!" Sirius whistled and James high-fived Aden.

"Remus! What was that for?" Jen tried to glare and found she couldn't.

"That was because I haven't kissed you yet today." He smiled gleefully and scooted down the couch. "It was also to shut you up."

"Lupin!" She took a pillow and began to chase after her boyfriend.

Lily came down the stairs and surveyed the situation. After she let her eyes linger on James a moment longer than was necessary, she pulled Jen up the stairs.

As they climbed Lily hurriedly whispered a warning to Jen. "Something bad has happened, you'll know what when we get in there."

The door opened and soft weeping filled the room. Hannah sat on her bed and stared at the letter in her hand. It didn't take a genius to figure out why she was crying. Jen ran to the bed and threw her arms around her cousin.

"Why did he do it Hannah-hoo?" The letter was shoved into Jen's hands.

_Hannah,_

_I don't suppose you know why I'm writing this, but read it anyway. We've been dating for a while now and I'm afraid I've come to my senses. I've thought about this a lot and I've decided I have to do what's best for both of us. _

Jen glanced up before continuing to read.

After talking with my fellow peers I have come to a conclusion. I'm sorry, but I can't be with you. A Gryffindor and a Slytherin can't be together.

_Make no attempt to contact me. I'll see you in class._

_Severus_

"That bastard! Oh Hannah, I'm so sorry!" Jen placed the letter on the bed and reached for her cousin.

"You're not s-s-sorry, you're probably g-g-glad." Hannah sobbed on Jen's shoulder nonetheless.

"I'd never be glad about something that hurt you. I'm glad if you are, even if it did mean you were dating him." She stroked Hannah's back.

Andromeda conjured four cups of tea and passed them out. "Here Hannah, drink up, it'll make you feel better."

Lily drew her wand and dried Hannah's tears.

Three hooded figures glided out of the oaken doors and onto the grounds, their breath misting in puffs. They strode stealthily and purposefully towards the ominous trees that loomed in the distance. As they drew nearer they quickened their pace.

As the group entered the trees they were submerged in darkness. One drew their wand and hissed _"Lumos!" _Following a winding path through the shadows, they eventually came to a clearing.

A semi-circle of robed figures with white masks greeted them. In the middle and to the front a man stood cloaked, but not masked. His unearthly pale skin and blood red eyes gleamed in the wand light. He beckoned to the newcomers.

As one they stepped forward, letting the middle figure stand slightly to the front.

"Come…Severus Snape…Come…" A slithery hissing voice issued from the man's mouth. The figure pulled down his hood and stepped forward suppressing a shudder.

"Master." Snape addressed Voldemort.

"You must complete one task before receiving your _gift_." His penetrating eyes bored into Snape's eyelids as Snape stared at the ground.

"Speak, I listen." Snape continued to stare at the ground refusing to look up fearing the hate he was sure filled his eyes.

"A simple matter of telling us the location of the Evan's residence."

Snape's eyes snapped up. He knew the address, she had told it to him once so he could send her letters there. He also knew what it would mean if he told Voldemort. But did it matter? He probably already knew from Legilmency and was just trying to see if Snape would be loyal. She'd never forgive him for being the cause of so much pain. Then something connected. _She must already hate me; she'll never forgive me anyway_. In that instant Snape's heart hardened just that little bit more.

"184 Elizabeth St., London." The last syllable cracked slightly. He said before he could change his mind.

"Good." Voldemort hissed. "Then come closer and receive my gift."

For a fraction of a second Snape hesitated. _This is your last chance. Do this and you'll never get her back._ He stepped forward and Voldemort smiled evilly. He lifted the arm of Snape's robe and pressed his wand to the inside of the elbow.

Immediately searing pain shot through Snape's whole body. It felt like nothing else. He let out a tortured scream.

Every bone was being broken.

Every muscle was torn to shreds.

Every inch of skin was being peeled off.

Every hair was being pulled out.

Every nail was ripped out.

His brain pressed against his skull.

His eyes were gouged.

His ears were cut off.

Fire burned through his veins.

Blood spouted from every pore.

His heart was stabbed.

His lungs were punctured.

Blinding, tearing, wrenching pain was the only world Snape knew in that moment.

Voldemort pulled his wand away and admired the skull and serpent. "How beautiful! Another magnificent masterpiece! The true test, is if you can survive the recieval of your glorious Mark."

Murmurs of agreement rippled through the Death Eaters. Snape fell to his knees pain still throbbing through him. Voldemort laughed and signaled for the other two of the trio to take him away. They supported Snape as he staggered back to the castle. All the while his mind wept. _'She'll never forgive me. What have I done? Why would I want this? I've been marked by the Beast.'_ He knew that he had just betrayed the only woman he would ever love; he knew he was causing so much pain to her and her friends. But what hurt the most was that he could never go back, and he'd never stop loving her.

Breakfast had started just as usual, nothing out of the ordinary. The Gryffindor girl's, while more somber than usual, still laughed and joked. They sat down and piled food on their plates. Jen commented on how wretched Snape looked. The post arrived in a flurry of wings and envelopes.

A tawny owl dropped a letter in front of Lily and flew away, as if scared to stick around. She picked up the letter interested. After reading two lines she screamed in sorrow and terror.

"No! No…No…No!" She sobbed and ran from the hall tears streaming down her face.

Andromeda picked up the fallen letter:

_Dear Ms. Evan's,_

_We are sorry to inform you that an attack occurred last night. In an explosion caused by Death Eaters your parents were killed. Your sister was safe, but the entire house was…_

**A/N I don't have much to say. It was short, to the point, and I cried as I wrote it. What did you think of the chapter?**

**GoldenLocket14**

**Celina K2**


	15. Chapter 16

**A/N I haven't done a disclaimer yet so now I will.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the daring, sexy, strikingly, handsome Marauder's with the exception of Aden. Although I would love to own Remus. Anyone else you recognize belongs not to me, but to the brilliant J.K. Rowling. **

**Chapter Sixteen: Pieces Of Me part 1**

Lily didn't know where she was going; she just followed the first route in her way. Burning tears were acid on her cheeks. She found herself in front of the Fat Lady idly flipping through a magazine.

"Augery Call!" Lily stumbled through the portrait hole and ran into someone. She couldn't take it. She collapsed on the floor and sobbed uncontrollably. The world was suddenly so lonely and cold. Her heart felt like a pile of ashes.

Lily didn't know when or for how long she lay there crying on the floor. It was a blur. But then, someone wrapped their arms around her and cradled her back and forth. She sat there for an eternity; trying to grasp the world she knew was slipping away. The chaos in her mind tried to consume her, and the only thing that kept her from insanity were those strong arms. She anchored herself to them and waited out the storm.

James was just coming down the stairs and heading for the portrait to go to breakfast. Cursing himself for oversleeping and cursing his friends for not getting him up.

Just as he was about to open the portrait it swung open and closed on a fiery haired girl. James could hear her sobbing and saw the tears on her cheeks. But what stunned him was that the tears were not water, they were fire.

Lily collapsed before him and lay crying unceasingly on the floor. He was shot to the heart to see the object of his affections so hurt. He went down to his knees and rocked her back and forth, trying desperately to calm her. In the end he just waited for her to stop on her own, she clung to him as if trying not to fall.

When she finally lifted her head to see who had held her, James saw the fire still trailing down her face. Lily didn't seem to notice it. Green met hazel.

"Thank you." It was choked, but sincere.

"No problem." James could not fathom what had caused his delicate flower to be so ripped apart. As if a child had picked her and ground the flower beneath his heal. He thought it better not to ask; if she wanted him to know she'd tell him in her time.

Lily didn't move. She sat there, unable to tear her eyes from James. He reached out and tentatively tried to brush away the lingering flames. To his surprise they did not burn, and he lifted his flame-covered fingers to his eyes to examine them.

Lily gasped. She touched her face and also pulled away with flames. "Fire tears? It's not possible."

James gave a slight laugh. "Anything is possible in a magical world."

She looked at her watch. "I need to go." She faltered a moment, seeming as if she might start crying again. "Tell everyone I'm sick, would you?"

"Sure." Lily got up and walked to the girl's Dorm stairs. She glanced back at James and went up into the waiting shadows.

"Where did she go?" Hannah looked at Andromeda who sat dumb in her seat.

"Andromeda? What's that?" Jen snapped her fingers in front of Andromeda's face. "Hello?"

Wordlessly she passed the letter to Hannah. She read through the letter twice, not quite believing it the first time. Then _she _dropped the letter and ran towards the hall motioning for Jen and Andromeda to follow.

They had almost made it to the seventh floor when James rounded a corner and stopped them.

"Lily's sick." James said.

"But—we thought…" Andromeda trailed off at a sign from James.

"She doesn't want to be disturbed. She's _sick_." He gave them a pointed look and kept walking.

"He doesn't know does he?" Jen glanced up the remaining stairs.

"I don't know. But he must have talked to Lily." Hannah turned around and walked to class.

"Should we check on her anyway?" Andromeda asked.

"I don't think so. She'll come when she's ready." Jen winked. "Or we'll just go up after class and force her to talk to us."

Snape walked aimlessly through the corridors not sure where he was going or even if he was supposed to be in class. At first he started wandering because an unlikely guilt lay heavy in his heart. He had heard Lily's anguished cry, seen the tears raging down her cheeks like an angry river. He had heard her denial of the truth, and seen her run from the hall.

It was unusual for Snape to feel such guilt. A week ago he would have said they'd had it coming.

But a week ago their death would not have been his fault. An uncomfortable lump had settled in the pit of his stomach. Yet that was almost unnoticeable compared to the soreness of his muscles. The pain was to the effect that he had torn every ligament in his body.

Imagine his surprise when he walked into the Library and straight for the most secluded corner there was. It had been _their_ spot. Now it wasn't even _his_ spot. A series of memories replayed themselves in his mind.

Just as he was about to sit down a girl caught his attention. He turned slightly to see the surprised form of Hannah sitting in one of the armchairs. Upon seeing her Snape had to wonder if this really was coincidence.

"Hello Severus." Hannah said stiffly_. Why now? _ She wondered to herself.

"Hannah." He replied just as stiffly. But then his shoulders slumped in defeat. He couldn't do this. To Hannah it looked like he had crumpled inwardly.

"Are you feeling alright?" Her voice was cold, distorted by an emotion Snape couldn't place. If anything was conveyed in her tone, it wasn't concern.

He began to say in an equally cold voice that yes, he was fine. But he stopped himself. "I'm sorry."

"And what have you to be sorry for? Wait a moment." A malevolent glean entered her gaze. "Maybe I can think of something." She started ticking off the list with her fingers. "You insulted my friends and family. You tried to kill my cousin. You broke my heart more than once. You charmed me as a snake charms its prey. And you…" She trailed off.  
Tears glistened in her eyes for a split second.

A thrill of fear ran through Snape as each of his emotions tried to gain dominance.

"Please Hannah, I beg of you, forgive—…"

"I know what you did last night Severus." Steel edged her voice; it cut the air like a knife. "And it's not anything I could ever forgive."

She turned to walk away but Snape spoke before she could leave. "Hannah, promise me something if you won't forgive me. For old times sake." She stood there listening. He took that as a yes. "Promise you won't forget that I'll always love you."

"Why promise something that's already imbedded in my soul?" Snape glanced at her hopefully. "But remember this Severus, I will never love you again."

She left him there, staring at the ground as if his whole life lay shattered there. Snape couldn't help but feel through the emotional fog that clouded his brain, as if maybe something significant had just happened.

The months seemed to blur together for Lily. After two days of being 'sick', she had gone back to class and back to living. Although it was painfully obvious how cautious everyone was around her.

That fateful day in her Dorm Lily had bottled some of the flaming tears to see if they would go out. They didn't. So that jar had continued to live on her nightstand as a reminder that the fire within her had to keep burning.

Valentine's Day had slipped by with only a bouquet of red roses from James, which she discreetly dried and preserved with spells.

As spring gently replaced winter Lily seemed to awaken from a deep slumber. It was very much as if she really _were_ one of the flowers that sprouted up through the soil. The only difference was that her petals weren't quite so pure and white. Their color was hard to determine, but it was certain she was a tainted rose and always would be.

**A/N Hello! I'm now in High School and bogged down with assignments and a social life that is barely sustaining itself. I'm getting most of my writing done on the weekends so delays may become frequent. I apologize a trillion times over. What did you think of the chapter. It is what we authors like to call a 'filler chapter'. It's basically irrelevant information designed to keep you interested so you stick around for the juicy stuff. **

**Poll: If you were James what would you do about Lily? **

**If I received this question from my Humanities teacher I'd probably have to write a five-paragraph essay on it.**

Celina K2 

**Or**

**GoldenLocket14**


	16. Chapter 17

**A/NI'm sososososososososososo sorry! I was grounded from the internet for bad grades and didn't get it back until yesterday! I have many chapters written so please don't abandon me!****So who wants to know how the story ends? Anyone? Well too bad! I'm not going to tell so ha! However my benefactor who goes by the name of Hannah, or Q.P. Love Doctor, and I have concocted the end of this story and the beginnings of the sequel series. **

**Chapter Seventeen: The Rest Of Our Lives**

"I went to find the pot of gold,

That's waiting where the rainbow ends.

I searched and searched and searched and searched

And searched and searched, and then—

There it was deep in the grass,

Under an old and twisty bough.

It's mine, it's mine, it's mine at last…

What do I search for now?"

"Mate are you feeling okay?" Sirius looked at James worriedly. The Marauders were sitting under the beech tree enjoying the May sunshine.

"What? It was just a poem." James tore his eyes from lake where Lily and her friends sat. "It's by a muggle named Shel Sylverstein."

"Aha. Sure." Sirius looked skeptical.

Aden glanced at the four figures linking arms and sitting by the waters edge. "What do you think they do to help one another?"

His friends looked perplexed. Why would Aden think of such a question? Why hadn't it occurred to them before?

"I'm sure it's some sort of closely guarded secret." Remus said conspiratorily.

"What's that?" James pointed to the sky above the Forbidden Forest. As they turned their heads to look a cloud was dispersed by something flying through the air. Then as if from no where a dragon came from behind the cloud issuing brilliant blue flames. It wove in and out a blur of shimmer, it's skin nearly the same color as the azure sky.

Dumbledore came out of the building and cursed as he saw the dragon rest on the ground. It padded over to the lake and began to take long draughts from the water. The lake water steamed and bubbled where the dragon's snout touched the water.

Hagrid joined Dumbledore to watch the spectacle of a dragon sitting by the lake licking it's lips and smiling broadly.

"I think it may have gotten one of the merpeople." Aden said chuckling slightly.

"Hagrid, is it normal for Sweedish Short Snouts to drink from school lakes and grin drunkenly?" Dumbledore smiled uncertainly.

"No, I don' think so." He rumbled and walked over to the glittering dragon. It had walked over to Lily and her friends and was sniffing Andromeda's hair.

"Ahhhhh!" She cried as it nudged her head toward the lake. The dragon continued to try and get students to go into the lake.

Hagrid reached the dragon and listened as it grunted mournfully. Hagrid started laughing and wiped tears of mirth from his eyes. "Why wouldn' yeh know it? 'E jus' wants to play! 'E's bored 'e says."

As if to demonstrate the dragon hobbled into the lake and started splashing anyone on shore. It swam happily for over an hour until someone came to bring the dragon to a reserve.

Later that evening after the girls were dry and still giggling they sat down in front of the fire to warm up.

"The man from the dragon reserve said Joey, that's the dragon, was always running off like that. A little boy found the egg and raised it till it was too big to hide. Apparently it instilled a playful nature, and Joey's a vegetarian." Andromeda said finering a scale that had dropped off of Joey. It was a glittering blue and nearly as big as her hand. In the firelight it looked like a piece of the sky had fallen.

"How odd." Lily said thoughtfully. "Maybe it's a sign."

"Of what?" Hannah asked skeptically.

"Of better things to come." Jen said wistfully. "Of happier times and mended hearts."

"Yeah…" Lily thought of the dried red roses hanging on her bed post and blushed.

"Of Seventh year." James says to his friends across the room. Naturally they had overheard the conversation.

"Of courage." Aden glanced quickly across the room, her brown hair sparkled.

"Of healing." Remus adds.

"Of the rest of our lives." Sirius finishes and the four silently agree.

The End 

**A/N There it is the end of Sixth year and the end of this story. But fear not, I'm treating the next story as a direct continuation. It will be posted soon! Just like a normal update. The next story is called Where the Sidewalk Ends so check my profile it will be there!**

**GoldenLocket14**

**P.S. What is my story rated on a scale of 1-10? ;)**


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